# Incel > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Incel > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Incel.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incel > Source revision: 1357061087 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Online subculture}} {{Redirect-distinguish|Involuntary celibacy|Sexual frustration|Romantic loneliness}} {{Other uses|Incel (disambiguation)}} {{Good article}} {{Pp|reason=Persistent [disruptive editing](/source/WP%3ADisruptive_editing) Restoring previous protection, there is no current disruption, apparent admin error|small=yes}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Use American English|date=January 2024}} An '''incel''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɪ|n|s|ɛ|l|audio=LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Incel.wav}} {{respell|IN|sel}}; a [portmanteau](/source/portmanteau) of "'''involuntarily celibate'''",{{Cite book |last1=Beever |first1=Jonathan |title=Understanding Digital Ethics: Cases and Contexts |last2=McDaniel |first2=Rudy |last3=Stanlick |first3=Nancy A. |publisher=Routledge |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-315-28213-8 |location=London |page=20 |oclc=1123184308 |doi=10.4324/9781315282138 |URL=https://books.google.com/books?id=FMbADwAAQBAJ&pg=PT21 |via=Google Books |quote=imagine a self-described 'incel' (the self-assigned abbreviation for 'involuntarily celibate' individuals (usually men) who hold morally abhorrent views toward the opposite sex)}}) is a member of an [online subculture](/source/online_subculture) of mostly male and [heterosexual](/source/heterosexual){{Multiref2 | {{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/24/toronto-van-attack-facebook-post-may-link-suspect-with-incel-group |title=Toronto van attack: Facebook post may link suspect to misogynist 'incel' subculture |last1=Wilson |first1=Jason |date=April 25, 2018 |newspaper=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian) |location=London, England |access-date=April 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425010650/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/24/toronto-van-attack-facebook-post-may-link-suspect-with-incel-group |archive-date=April 25, 2018 |url-status=live |url-access=limited |ref=none}} | {{cite news |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/04/toronto-van-incel/558836/ |title=ISIS Tactics Have Spread to Other Violent Actors |last=Wood |first=Graeme |author-link=Graeme Wood (journalist) |date=April 24, 2018 |magazine=[The Atlantic](/source/The_Atlantic) |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=May 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180503180554/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/04/toronto-van-incel/558836/ |archive-date=May 3, 2018 |url-status=live |url-access=limited |ref=none}} | {{cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-april-26-2018-1.4636157/violent-misogyny-found-in-incel-is-a-form-of-terrorism-says-author-1.4636164 |title=Violent misogyny found in 'incel' is a form of terrorism, says author |date=April 26, 2018 |publisher=[CBC.ca](/source/CBC.ca) |access-date=May 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180531223934/http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-april-26-2018-1.4636157/violent-misogyny-found-in-incel-is-a-form-of-terrorism-says-author-1.4636164 |archive-date=May 31, 2018 |url-status=live |ref=none}} }} people who define themselves as unable to find a [romantic](/source/Romance_(love)) or [sexual partner](/source/sexual_partner) despite desiring one. They often blame, [objectify](/source/objectify), and denigrate women as a result. The term inspired a subculture that rose to prominence during the 2010s, after being influenced by and associated with [misogynist terrorist](/source/misogynist_terrorist)s such as [Elliot Rodger](/source/Elliot_Rodger) and [Alek Minassian](/source/Alek_Minassian).{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43892189 |title=Elliot Rodger: How misogynist killer became 'incel hero' |date=April 25, 2018 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=July 21, 2018 |archive-date=May 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180512075225/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43892189 |url-status=live}} The incel subculture's online discourse has been characterized by [social rejection](/source/social_rejection), [social isolation](/source/social_isolation), [resentment](/source/resentment), [hostile sexism](/source/hostile_sexism), [anti-feminism](/source/anti-feminism), [sexual objectification](/source/sexual_objectification) and [dehumanization](/source/dehumanization) of women, [misogyny](/source/misogyny), [misanthropy](/source/misanthropy), [self-pity](/source/self-pity) and [self-loathing](/source/self-loathing), [racism](/source/racism), a sense of entitlement to sex, [nihilism](/source/nihilism), [rape culture](/source/rape_culture), and the endorsement of sexual and non-sexual violence against women and the sexually active. Incels tend to blame women and feminism for their inability to find a partner; their romantic failures are often attributed to [biological determinism](/source/biological_determinism), where women are said to have an innate and unchangeable preference for mating with high-status males (nicknamed "[Chads](/source/Chads)").{{cite book |last1=Kennedy-Kollar |first1=Deniese |title=Extremism and Radicalization in the Manosphere: Beta Uprising |series=Routledge Studies in Crime and Society |date=2024 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=978-1-040-03920-5 |page=72 |doi=10.4324/9781032631080-7 |chapter=Involuntary Celibates (Incels)}}{{r|Lindsay 2022|Hoffman 2020}} Most incels identify with the "black pill",{{sfnp|Sugiura|2021|p=9}} an ideology and a subsection of the [Manosphere](/source/Manosphere) that argues female sexual selection is primarily based on external superficial qualities such as attractiveness in looks, money, and status; they also argue that these factors, especially looks, are biologically determined. This means that any man who lacks these qualities is [fatalistically](/source/fatalism) subjected to a life of loneliness, never being able to experience sex or relationships. Incel communities have been criticized by scholars, government officials, and others for their misogyny, endorsement and encouragement of violence and [extremism](/source/extremism).{{Multiref2 | {{cite news |last=Taub |first=Amanda |date=May 9, 2018 |title=On Social Media's Fringes, Growing Extremism Targets Women |work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/09/world/americas/incels-toronto-attack.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180514031941/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/09/world/americas/incels-toronto-attack.html |archive-date=May 14, 2018 |issn=0362-4331 |url-access=limited |ref=none}} | {{cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/incels-looksmaxing-obsession_us_5b50e56ee4b0de86f48b0a4f |title=Inside Incels' Looksmaxing Obsession: Penis Stretching, Skull Implants And Rage |last=Cook |first=Jesselyn |date=July 24, 2018 |work=[HuffPost](/source/HuffPost) |access-date=August 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180811220219/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/incels-looksmaxing-obsession_us_5b50e56ee4b0de86f48b0a4f |archive-date=August 11, 2018 |url-status=live |ref=none}} | {{cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/online-extremism-radical-misogyny_us_5b491358e4b0bc69a787458f |title=Internet Giants Are Banning Extremists (Just Not The Ones Targeting Women) |last=Cook |first=Jesselyn |date=July 27, 2018 |work=HuffPost |access-date=August 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180811021553/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/online-extremism-radical-misogyny_us_5b491358e4b0bc69a787458f |archive-date=August 11, 2018 |url-status=live |ref=none}} | {{cite journal |last1=Hoffman |first1=Bruce |author-link=Bruce Hoffman |last2=Ware |first2=Jacob |last3=Shapiro |first3=Ezra |date=2020 |title=Assessing the Threat of Incel Violence |journal=Studies in Conflict & Terrorism |volume=43 |issue=7 |pages=565–587 |doi=10.1080/1057610X.2020.1751459 |hdl=10023/24162 |s2cid=218781135 |issn=1057-610X |hdl-access=free |ref=none}} }} Over time the subculture has become associated with extremism and terrorism, and since 2014 there have been multiple [mass killing](/source/mass_killing)s, mostly in North America, perpetrated by self-identified incels, as well as other instances of violence or attempted violence. The [Southern Poverty Law Center](/source/Southern_Poverty_Law_Center) (SPLC) describes incels as "part of the online [male supremacist](/source/male_supremacist) ecosystem" that is included in their [list of hate groups](/source/List_of_organizations_designated_by_the_Southern_Poverty_Law_Center_as_hate_groups). The [Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism](/source/Global_Internet_Forum_to_Counter_Terrorism) (GIFCT) states that "the incel community shares a misogynistic ideology of women as being [genetically](/source/genetically) inferior to men, driven by their [sexual desire](/source/sexual_desire) to reproduce with genetically superior males, thereby excluding unattractive men such as themselves" which "exhibits all of the hallmarks of an extremist ideology." GIFCT states that incel beliefs combine a wish for a [mythical](/source/mythical) past where all men were entitled to sex from [subordinated](/source/Hierarchy) women, a sense of [predestined](/source/predestined) personal failure, and nihilism, making it a dangerous ideology.{{cite web |url=https://crestresearch.ac.uk/resources/a-short-introduction-to-the-involuntary-celibate-sub-culture |title=A Short Introduction To The Incel Sub-Culture |date=August 26, 2021 |last=Brace |first=Lewys |website=Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats |access-date=September 2, 2023 |archive-date=September 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230902080835/https://crestresearch.ac.uk/resources/a-short-introduction-to-the-involuntary-celibate-sub-culture |url-status=live}} Estimates of the overall size of the subculture vary greatly, ranging anywhere from thousands to hundreds of thousands of individuals. == History and organization == ===Background=== The first website to use the term "incel" was ''Alana's Involuntary Celibacy Project'', a blog and mailing list founded in 1997{{efn|Some media have incorrectly dated the founding of the website to 1993, the date of a personal interaction that later inspired Alana to design the page.{{Cite web |author=Alana |date=October 8, 2019 |title=My history with involuntary celibacy |url=https://www.lovenotanger.org/my-history-with-involuntary-celibacy/ |access-date=January 7, 2024 |website=Love Not Anger |language=en-US |archive-date=December 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216130246/https://www.lovenotanger.org/my-history-with-involuntary-celibacy/ |url-status=live}}}} by a female university student living in Toronto known as Alana,{{Cite journal |last1=Preston |first1=Kayla |last2=Halpin |first2=Michael |last3=Maguire |first3=Finlay |date=2021 |title=The Black Pill: New Technology and the Male Supremacy of Involuntarily Celibate Men |journal=Men and Masculinities |language=en |volume=24 |issue=5 |pages=823–841 |doi=10.1177/1097184X211017954 |doi-access=free |issn=1097-184X |pmc=8600582 |pmid=34803370}} {{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=by4|from this source=yes}}{{cite news |last1=Taylor |first1=Tim |title=The woman who founded the 'incel' movement |work=BBC News |date=August 29, 2018 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45284455 |access-date=September 2, 2025 |archive-date=August 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830080840/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45284455 |url-status=live}} in order to write about and discuss her own experiences of celibacy with like-minded people.{{cite book |last1=Kaiser |first1=Susanne |translator=Valentine A. Pakis |title=Political Masculinity: How Incels, Fundamentalists and Authoritarians Mobilise for Patriarchy |date=2022 |publisher=Polity Press |location=Cambridge, UK |isbn=978-1-5095-5082-1 |pages=17–18 |language=en}} The blog was intended as a supportive and inclusive site for people who had difficulty forming romantic relationships,{{sfnp|Kennedy-Kollar|2024|p=65}}{{r|Preston 2021}} and was used by people of all [gender](/source/gender)s and [sexual orientation](/source/sexual_orientation)s to share their thoughts and experiences{{Cite news |last1=Ling |first1=Justin |last2=Mahoney |first2=Jill |last3=McGuire |first3=Patrick |last4=Freeze |first4=Colin |date=April 24, 2018 |title=The 'incel' community and the dark side of the Internet |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-the-incel-community-and-the-dark-side-of-the-internet/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180426031836/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-the-incel-community-and-the-dark-side-of-the-internet/ |archive-date=April 26, 2018 |access-date=May 4, 2018 |work=[The Globe and Mail](/source/The_Globe_and_Mail)}} in order to overcome social barriers such as [shyness](/source/shyness).{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=David S. |last2=Butler-Warke |first2=Alice |last3=Stevens |first3=Gemma |title='Even though I'm not an incel, I'm still an involuntary celibate': A journey in and out of inceldom |journal=The Communication Review |date=2025 |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=1–25 |doi=10.1080/10714421.2024.2383814 |doi-access=free |issn=1547-7487 |hdl=10023/31436 |hdl-access=free}} {{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=by4|from this source=yes}} Alana originally used the abbreviation "invcel" for "involuntarily celibate", later shortening it to "incel".{{r|Taylor 2018}} Her website was intended for "anybody of any gender who was lonely, had never had sex or who hadn't had a relationship in a long time".{{Cite journal |last1=Evans |first1=Hannah Rae |last2=Lankford |first2=Adam |date=2024 |title=Femcel Discussions of Sex, Frustration, Power, and Revenge |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=53 |issue=3 |page=918 |doi=10.1007/s10508-023-02796-z |pmid=38243101 |issn=1573-2800}}{{cite book |last=Sugiura |first=Lisa |title=The Incel Rebellion: The Rise of the Manosphere and the Virtual War Against Women |date=2021 |series=Emerald Studies In Digital Crime, Technology and Social Harms |publisher=Emerald Publishing Limited |location=Bingley, UK |isbn=978-1-83982-254-4 |page=4 |doi=10.1108/9781839822544 |doi-access=free}} {{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=by4|from this source=yes}} She later said, "I was trying to create a movement that was open to anybody and everybody."{{r|Kaiser p17}}{{Cite news |last=Baker |first=Peter |date=March 1, 2016 |title=The Woman Who Accidentally Started the Incel Movement |url=https://www.elle.com/culture/news/a34512/woman-who-started-incel-movement/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180424080140/https://www.elle.com/culture/news/a34512/woman-who-started-incel-movement/ |archive-date=April 24, 2018 |access-date=September 2, 2025 |work=Elle}} During her college years and afterward, Alana realized she was [bisexual](/source/bisexual) and became more comfortable with her identity.{{r|Baker 2016a}} As her own dating life improved, Alana stopped maintaining the website,{{sfnp|Kennedy-Kollar|2024|p=65}} passing the site's contents on to someone else she did not know around the year 2000.{{Cite news |last=Zimmer |first=Ben |author-link=Ben Zimmer |date=May 8, 2018 |title=How 'Incel' Got Hijacked |work=[Politico](/source/Politico) |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/05/08/intel-involuntary-celibate-movement-218324/ |url-status=live |access-date=May 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180508130235/https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/05/08/intel-involuntary-celibate-movement-218324 |archive-date=May 8, 2018}} In 2018, Alana said of her project: "It definitely wasn't a bunch of guys blaming women for their problems. That's a pretty sad version of this phenomenon that's happening today. Things have changed in the last 20 years". After learning that the perpetrator of the [2014 Isla Vista killings](/source/2014_Isla_Vista_killings) was being glorified by parts of the incel subculture, Alana wrote: "Like a scientist who invented something that ended up being a weapon of war, I can't uninvent this word, nor restrict it to the nicer people who need it".{{r|Kaiser p17|Baker 2016a}} She expressed regret at the change from her original intent of creating an "inclusive community" for people of all genders who were sexually deprived due to [social awkwardness](/source/social_awkwardness), [marginalization](/source/marginalization), or [mental illness](/source/mental_illness).{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/25/woman-who-invented-incel-movement-interview-toronto-attack |title=Woman behind 'incel' says angry men hijacked her word 'as a weapon of war' |last1=Kassam |first1=Ashifa |date=April 26, 2018 |newspaper=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian) |access-date=May 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180502063255/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/25/woman-who-invented-incel-movement-interview-toronto-attack |archive-date=May 2, 2018 |url-status=live}} ===Forums=== In 2003, the message board love-shy.com was founded as a place for people who felt perpetually rejected or were extremely shy with potential partners to discuss their situations. It was less strictly [moderated](/source/Moderation_system) than its counterpart, IncelSupport, which was also founded in the 2000s. While IncelSupport welcomed men and women and banned misogynistic posts, love-shy.com's userbase was overwhelmingly male. Over the next decade, the membership of love-shy.com and online fringe [right-wing](/source/right-wing) communities like [4chan](/source/4chan) increasingly overlapped. In the 2000s, incel communities became more extremist as they adopted behaviors common on forums such as 4chan and [Reddit](/source/Reddit), where extremist posts were encouraged as a way to achieve visibility.{{Cite journal |last1=Hoffman |first1=Bruce |author-link=Bruce Hoffman |last2=Ware |first2=Jacob |last3=Shapiro |first3=Ezra |date=2020 |title=Assessing the Threat of Incel Violence |journal=Studies in Conflict & Terrorism |volume=43 |issue=7 |pages=565–587 |doi=10.1080/1057610X.2020.1751459 |hdl=10023/24162 |s2cid=218781135 |issn=1057-610X |hdl-access=free}} According to [Bruce Hoffman](/source/Bruce_Hoffman) and colleagues writing in ''[Studies in Conflict & Terrorism](/source/Studies_in_Conflict_%26_Terrorism)'', as "edgy" and extremist statements became more prevalent in incel communities, so too did extremist [trolling](/source/trolling) and "[shitposting](/source/shitposting)". The [r/incels](/source/r%2Fincels) subreddit later became a particularly active incel community. It was known as a place where men blamed women for their inceldom, sometimes advocated for [rape](/source/rape) or other forms of violence, and were misogynistic and often racist.{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/08/reddit-incel-involuntary-celibate-men-ban |title='Incel': Reddit bans misogynist men's group blaming women for their celibacy |last=Solon |first=Olivia |date=November 8, 2017 |newspaper=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108214200/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/08/reddit-incel-involuntary-celibate-men-ban |archive-date=November 8, 2017 |url-status=live |access-date=April 25, 2018}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/09/technology/incels-reddit-banned.html |title=Reddit Bans 'Incel' Group for Inciting Violence Against Women |last=Hauser |first=Christine |date=November 9, 2017 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112161054/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/09/technology/incels-reddit-banned.html |archive-date=November 12, 2017 |url-status=live |url-access=limited}} Reddit banned the r/incels subreddit in 2017 following a new policy that prohibited "content that encourages, glorifies, incites, or calls for violence or physical harm against an individual or a group of people", adopted in October 2017.{{Cite news |last=Hauser |first=Christine |date=October 26, 2017 |title=Reddit Bans Nazi Groups and Others in Crackdown on Violent Content |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/26/us/reddit-violence-policy.html |url-status=live |url-access=limited |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180421114636/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/26/us/reddit-violence-policy.html |archive-date=April 21, 2018 |issn=0362-4331}} At the time of the ban, the community had around 40,000 members.{{Cite news |last=Bell |first=Chris |date=November 9, 2017 |title=Reddit bans 'involuntarily celibate' community |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-41926687 |url-status=live |access-date=April 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517184004/http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-41926687 |archive-date=May 17, 2018}} The incel community continued to inhabit Reddit in other subreddits, such as on the subreddit [r/braincels](/source/R%2FBraincels). Although the tone of the subreddit was similar to r/incels, moderators of the r/braincels forum said that they did not endorse, support, or glorify violence or violent people, a distinction they made from the subject matter of its predecessor that resulted in its being banned from Reddit.{{Cite news |last=Hosford |first=Paul |date=April 26, 2018 |title=What is the 'incel rebellion'? And who are those behind it? |work=[TheJournal.ie](/source/TheJournal.ie) |url=http://www.thejournal.ie/incel-3979342-Apr2018/ |url-status=live |access-date=April 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180426144217/http://www.thejournal.ie/incel-3979342-Apr2018/ |archive-date=April 26, 2018}} On September 30, 2019, the r/braincels subreddit was banned after Reddit again broadened its banning policy.{{Cite web |last=Robertson |first=Adi |date=September 30, 2019 |title=Reddit has broadened its anti-harassment rules and banned a major incel forum |url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/30/20891920/reddit-harassment-bullying-threats-new-policy-change-rules-subreddits |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001013721/https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/30/20891920/reddit-harassment-bullying-threats-new-policy-change-rules-subreddits |archive-date=October 1, 2019 |access-date=October 1, 2019 |website=[The Verge](/source/The_Verge) |url-access=subscription}} Incel communities began to migrate away from shared platforms and instead use their own closed forums dedicated specifically to the subject.{{Cite journal |last=Halpin |first=Michael |date=2022 |title=Weaponized Subordination: How Incels Discredit Themselves to Degrade Women |journal=Gender & Society |language=en |volume=36 |issue=6 |pages=813–837 |doi=10.1177/08912432221128545 |issn=0891-2432 |s2cid=252740108 |doi-access=free}} {{As of|2022}}, the standalone website Incels.is hosts the majority of incel-related discussion online.{{cite journal |last1=Stijelja |first1=Stefan |last2=Mishara |first2=Brian L. |date=2025 |title=Characteristics of Incel Forum Users: Social Network Analysis and Chronological Posting Patterns |journal=Studies in Conflict & Terrorism |volume=48 |issue=12 |pages=1448–1468 |issn=1057-610X |doi=10.1080/1057610X.2023.2208892 |doi-access=free}} In the 2010s, the subculture came to wider public notice with the banning of r/incels, and when a series of mass murders were committed by men who either identified as members of the subculture or shared similar ideologies.{{Cite news |url=https://www.elle.com/life-love/sex-relationships/a33782/involuntary-celibacy/ |title=What Happens to Men Who Can't Have Sex |last=Baker |first=Peter |date=February 29, 2016 |work=[Elle](/source/Elle_(magazine)) |access-date=April 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425115510/https://www.elle.com/life-love/sex-relationships/a33782/involuntary-celibacy/ |archive-date=April 25, 2018 |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last=Burleigh |first=Nina |author-link=Nina Burleigh |date=May 27, 2014 |title=Inside the terrifying, twisted online world of involuntary celibates |work=[Salon](/source/Salon_(website)) |url=http://observer.com/2014/05/hating-the-players-elliot-rodger/ |url-status=live |access-date=April 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180426080154/http://observer.com/2014/05/hating-the-players-elliot-rodger/ |archive-date=April 26, 2018}} Increased interest in incel communities has been attributed to feelings of "aggrieved entitlement" among some men who feel they are being denied rights they deserve and blame women for their lack of sex. Since around 2019, some self-identified incels have attempted to redefine their views to appear more mainstream, by writing blog posts and articles on subject-specific [wiki](/source/wiki)s and forums. These reject the more open expressions of misogyny within other segments of the subculture, highlighting the heterogeneity of incel communities, and reframing incels not as an online subculture but as those experiencing a life circumstance that applies even to individuals who are not members of the subculture. In 2021, M. Kelly wrote for the [Political Research Associates](/source/Political_Research_Associates) think tank that these attempts to redefine themselves contradicted the communities' self-identifications and moderation strategies, where members regularly challenge other users' "legitimacy" as incels, but have accepted as members individuals with sexual experience who nonetheless shared similar political ideologies.{{Cite magazine |last=Kelly |first=M. |title=The Mainstream Pill |url=http://www.politicalresearch.org/2021/07/01/mainstream-pill |access-date=September 8, 2025 |magazine=The Public Eye |date=Spring–Summer 2021 |pages=3–9 |issn=0275-9322 |publisher=Political Research Associates |archive-date=July 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726095908/http://www.politicalresearch.org/2021/07/01/mainstream-pill |url-status=live}} In 2017, the largest incel forum (incels.is) was founded by a previous moderator of the r/incels subreddit. The forum had almost 15,000 members {{As of|2022|10|lc=y}}. It is composed of public and registered [message board](/source/message_board)s for self-described incels to discuss their personal experiences. Moderators ban women and [LGBTQ](/source/LGBTQ) individuals from joining, stating that the forum is oriented towards [straight men](/source/straight_men).{{Cite web |last=Nashrulla |first=Tasneem |date=June 6, 2019 |title=Incels Are Running An Online Suicide Forum That Was Blamed For A Young Woman's Death |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tasneemnashrulla/incels-suicide-forum-woman-killed-herself |access-date=May 3, 2023 |website=[BuzzFeed News](/source/BuzzFeed_News) |language=en |archive-date=February 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210024445/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tasneemnashrulla/incels-suicide-forum-woman-killed-herself |url-status=live}}{{Cite journal |last1=Jaki |first1=Sylvia |last2=Smedt |first2=Tom De |last3=Gwóźdź |first3=Maja |last4=Panchal |first4=Rudresh |last5=Rossa |first5=Alexander |last6=Pauw |first6=Guy De |date=November 25, 2019 |title=Online hatred of women in the Incels.me forum: Linguistic analysis and automatic detection |url=https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/jlac.00026.jak |journal=Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict |language=en |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=240–268 |doi=10.1075/jlac.00026.jak |issn=2213-1272 |s2cid=199183681 |access-date=June 19, 2023 |archive-date=May 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230501182125/https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/jlac.00026.jak |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}} In 2020, [Talia Lavin](/source/Talia_Lavin) in her book ''[Culture Warlords](/source/Culture_Warlords)'', described the site's culture as one of "one-upmanship", "barroom boast-off" and [shock content](/source/Shock_site).{{cite book |last=Lavin |first=Talia |url=https://www.engadget.com/hitting-the-books-culture-warlords-talia-lavin-hachette-books-163023083.html |title=Culture Warlords: My Journey into the Dark Web of White Supremacy |date=October 13, 2020 |publisher=[Hachette Books](/source/Hachette_Books) |isbn=978-0-30684-643-4 |location= |author-link=Talia Lavin |access-date=June 19, 2023 |archive-date=May 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512235530/https://www.engadget.com/hitting-the-books-culture-warlords-talia-lavin-hachette-books-163023083.html |url-status=live}} In 2023, ''[Rolling Stone](/source/Rolling_Stone)'' described a vindictive site culture, giving an example of an ex-moderator who entered a romantic relationship and was subsequently rejected by site members as a "fake incel".{{Cite magazine |last=Klee |first=Miles |date=April 27, 2023 |title=The 'LeBron James of Incels' Swears He Has a Girlfriend Now — He Just Can't Prove It |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/incel-civil-war-girlfriend-komesarj-1234724278/ |magazine=[Rolling Stone](/source/Rolling_Stone) |access-date=May 19, 2023 |archive-date=May 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230519205443/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/incel-civil-war-girlfriend-komesarj-1234724278/ |url-status=live}} In 2019, [''Vox''](/source/Vox_(website)) stated that the site has a culture of praising mass killers, which is treated lightly by the site's admins. The site has used several [top-level domain](/source/top-level_domain)s since its creation, after being suspended by one domain registry due to violence and hate speech{{Cite web |last=Binder |first=Matt |date=November 20, 2018 |title=Incels.me, a major hub for hate speech and misogyny, suspended by .ME registry |url=https://mashable.com/article/incels-me-domain-suspended-by-registry |access-date=May 1, 2023 |website=[Mashable](/source/Mashable) |language=en |archive-date=May 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230501182124/https://mashable.com/article/incels-me-domain-suspended-by-registry |url-status=live}} and denied renewal by another.{{cite journal |last1=Zimmerman |first1=Shannon |date=October 26, 2022 |title=The Ideology of Incels: Misogyny and Victimhood as Justification for Political Violence |journal=Terrorism and Political Violence |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=166–179 |doi=10.1080/09546553.2022.2129014 |s2cid=253179777 |issn=1556-1836}} The site owners also operate a wiki,{{cite web |type=report |last1=Roser |first1=Meg |last2=Chalker |first2=Charlotte |last3=Squirrell |first3=Tim |title=Spitting out the blackpill: Evaluating how incels present themselves in their own words on the incel Wiki |date=January 30, 2023 |publisher=[Institute for Strategic Dialogue](/source/Institute_for_Strategic_Dialogue) |url=https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Spitting-out-the-blackpill_Evaluating-how-incels-present-themselves-in-their-own-worlds-on-the-incel-Wiki.pdf |access-date=June 19, 2023 |archive-date=March 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326025159/https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Spitting-out-the-blackpill_Evaluating-how-incels-present-themselves-in-their-own-worlds-on-the-incel-Wiki.pdf |url-status=live}}{{cite web |last=Barr |first=Kyle |date=February 2, 2023 |title=This Violently Misogynistic Incel Community Is Rewriting Its Own History Through an Incel Wiki |url=http://gizmodo.com/incel-wiki-wikipedia-involuntary-celibates-1850064455 |access-date=June 9, 2023 |website=[Gizmodo](/source/Gizmodo) |archive-date=May 13, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513100014/https://gizmodo.com/incel-wiki-wikipedia-involuntary-celibates-1850064455 |url-status=live}} which has been described by researchers publishing in ''[New Media & Society](/source/New_Media_%26_Society)'' as [cherry picking](/source/cherry_picking) academic papers to promote [misogynistic](/source/misogynistic) points.{{cite journal |last1=Halpin |first1=Michael |last2=Richard |first2=Norann |last3=Preston |first3=Kayla |last4=Gosse |first4=Meghan |last5=Maguire |first5=Finlay |date=2023 |title=Men who hate women: The misogyny of involuntarily celibate men |journal=New Media & Society |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=424–442 |doi=10.1177/14614448231176777 |doi-access=free |pmid=39711688 |issn=1461-7315 |pmc=11661939}} A 2023 study found that incels who regularly use incel forums were linked to a history of using other hateful and controversial forums as well. Contributions to other hateful forums usually preceded engagement to incel forums in these individuals' histories of online activity. Among incel reddit users (measured by active contributions to now banned subreddits like r/braincels, r/incels, and r/incelswithouthate), the same study found a 77.8% overlap with other [manosphere](/source/manosphere) content and a 63.5% overlap with interest in politics and social issues, most of which involved right-wing or [far-right](/source/far-right) content. ==== Connection to suicide forums ==== {{See also|Sanctioned Suicide}} In September 2022, the UK-based [Center for Countering Digital Hate](/source/Center_for_Countering_Digital_Hate) (CCDH) published a report about the largest dedicated incel forum based on monthly visits, and a network of other sites run by the same two pseudonymous individuals. ''[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)'', ''[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)'', and the CCDH identified them as Uruguay-based Diego Joaquín Galante and United States–based Lamarcus Small.{{cite news |last1=Twohey |first1=Megan |author-link=Megan Twohey |last2=Dance |first2=Gabriel J.X. |date=December 9, 2021 |title=Where the Despairing Log On, and Learn Ways to Die |work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/12/09/us/where-the-despairing-log-on.html |url-status=live |access-date=September 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230214211928/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/12/09/us/where-the-despairing-log-on.html |archive-date=February 14, 2023 |url-access=limited}}{{cite news |last1=Lorenz |first1=Taylor |author-link=Taylor Lorenz |date=September 23, 2022 |title=The online incel movement is getting more violent and extreme, report says |newspaper=[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post) |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/09/22/incels-rape-murder-study/ |access-date=September 24, 2022 |archive-date=February 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213094830/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/09/22/incels-rape-murder-study/ |url-status=live |url-access=limited}}{{cite news |last1=Twohey |first1=Megan |author-link=Megan Twohey |date=December 21, 2021 |title=Lawmakers Urge Tech Companies to 'Mitigate Harm' of Suicide Website |work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/21/technology/suicide-website-google.html |access-date=September 24, 2022 |archive-date=February 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213094826/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/21/technology/suicide-website-google.html |url-status=live |url-access=limited}} In December 2021, ''The New York Times'' reported that it had identified 45 people, individually, who died in connection to a website called ''[Sanctioned Suicide](/source/Sanctioned_Suicide)'',{{cite news |last1=Twohey |first1=Megan |title=Lawmakers Press Amazon on Sales of Chemical Used in Suicides |work=The New York Times |date=February 4, 2022 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/04/technology/amazon-suicide-poison-preservative.html |access-date=September 17, 2022 |archive-date=February 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213094824/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/04/technology/amazon-suicide-poison-preservative.html |url-status=live |url-access=limited}} and estimated that the true number was likely much higher.{{cite news |last1=Barbaro |first1=Michael |author-link=Michael Barbaro |last2=Twohey |first2=Megan |author-link2=Megan Twohey |last3=Dance |first3=Gabriel J.X. |date=December 9, 2021 |title='Kids are Dying. How Are These Sites Still Allowed?' |work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/09/podcasts/the-daily/suicide-investigation.html |access-date=September 24, 2022 |archive-date=February 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213094826/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/09/podcasts/the-daily/suicide-investigation.html |url-status=live |url-access=limited}} The ''Times'' reporters discovered that Galante and Small created and operated the suicide website, in addition to their several incel forums. The CCDH reported that Galante and Small also maintained forums for online communities dedicated to [body image](/source/body_image) and unemployment.{{cite web |type=report |author= |title=The Incelosphere: Exposing Pathways into Incel Communities and the Harms They Pose to Women and Children |date=September 23, 2022 |publisher=[Center for Countering Digital Hate](/source/Center_for_Countering_Digital_Hate) |publication-place=London & Washington, D.C. |url=https://counterhate.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CCDH-The-Incelosphere..pdf |access-date=February 16, 2023 |archive-date=February 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213101948/https://counterhate.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CCDH-The-Incelosphere..pdf |url-status=live}} == Ideology == Incel rhetoric invokes an idealized [patriarchal](/source/patriarchal) society in which couples adhered to traditional [gender role](/source/gender_role)s, married early, and were strictly [monogamous](/source/monogamous). During this mythologized "[golden age](/source/golden_age)", incels imagine that all men had nearly unencumbered access to women as romantic partners, thereby reducing the competition for sex.{{Cite journal |last=Lindsay |first=Angus |date=2022 |title=Swallowing the Black Pill: Involuntary Celibates' (Incels) Anti Feminism within Digital Society |journal=International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=210–224 |doi=10.5204/ijcjsd.2138 |doi-access=free |issn=2202-8005}} {{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=by4|from this source=yes}}{{Cite journal |last1=Baele |first1=Stephane J. |last2=Brace |first2=Lewys |last3=Coan |first3=Travis G. |date=2019 |title=From 'Incel' to 'Saint': Analyzing the violent worldview behind the 2018 Toronto attack |journal=Terrorism and Political Violence |volume=33 |issue=8 |pages=1667–1691 |doi=10.1080/09546553.2019.1638256 |issn=0954-6553 |s2cid=201361080}}{{sfnp|Hoffman|Ware|Shapiro|2020|p=573|ps=: "a common refrain in [incel] forums yearns for the 'old days,' when men had more control over women, monogamy was the norm, and it was allegedly easier to find a spouse. Feminism, they say, has robbed incels of the right to a wife and sex—which some incels seek to redress through violence."}} Incels often disagree about precisely when this golden age occurred, but they concur that it was gradually destroyed by [feminism](/source/feminism), the [sexual revolution](/source/sexual_revolution), [women's liberation](/source/women's_liberation), and technological progress. As a result, incels tend to blame both women and the [feminist movement](/source/feminist_movement) for their inability to find a partner.{{r|Lindsay 2022}}{{Cite journal |last1=Scaptura |first1=Maria N. |last2=Boyle |first2=Kaitlin M. |date=2019 |title=Masculinity Threat, 'Incel' Traits, and Violent Fantasies Among Heterosexual Men in the United States |journal=Feminist Criminology |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=278–298 |doi=10.1177/1557085119896415 |s2cid=214333864 |issn=1557-0851 |quote=Today's 'incel' discourses—short for 'involuntary celibate'—blame feminism for their celibacy, claim that women are genetically inferior, and complain that women prefer more 'genetically superior' men}} A 2025 study found involuntary celibacy was associated with criticism of [liberalism](/source/liberalism). Incels were overwhelmingly found to be illiberal, supporting a more "just" traditional past in which men, as a social group, enjoyed a more privileged status. Stemming from this view, incels express strong aversion towards social outgroups that challenge men's position: these groups namely include modern women, feminism, and the overall liberal, inclusive, pluralistic society as a whole that allows for the prominence of these outgroups.{{cite journal |last=Piazza |first=James A. |title=Incel Beliefs and Support for Political Violence Among U.S. Males: The Mediating Effects of Masculinity Stress, Aggression, Outgroup Hate, and Illiberalism |journal=Crime & Delinquency |date=2025 |issn=0011-1287 |doi=10.1177/00111287241310820 |doi-access=free}} Incel discourse is characterized by resentment and hatred, self-pity, [hostile sexism](/source/hostile_sexism), [anti-feminism](/source/anti-feminism), [racism](/source/racism), [sexual objectification](/source/sexual_objectification) and [dehumanization](/source/dehumanization) of women, [misogyny](/source/misogyny), [misanthropy](/source/misanthropy), and [nihilism](/source/nihilism).{{refn|name="themes"|{{Multiref | Resentment, misogyny{{sfnp|Kennedy-Kollar|2024|pp=65, 72}}{{cite journal |last1=Burton |first1=Anthony |date=December 2022 |title=Blackpill Science: Involuntary Celibacy, Rational Technique, and Economic Existence under Neoliberalism |journal=Canadian Journal of Communication |volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=676–701 |doi=10.3138/cjc.2022-07-25 |doi-access=free |s2cid=252937655}} | Hatred | Hostile sexism{{cite journal |last1=Gheorghe |first1=Ruxandra M. |title='Just Be White (JBW)': Incels, Race and the Violence of Whiteness |journal=Affilia |date=2024 |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=59–77 |doi=10.1177/08861099221144275 |doi-access=free |issn=1552-3020}} {{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=by4|from this source=yes}}{{Cite journal |last1=Grunau |first1=Karolin |last2=Bieselt |first2=Helena E. |last3=Gul |first3=Pelin |last4=Kupfer |first4=Tom R. |date=2022 |title=Unwanted celibacy is associated with misogynistic attitudes even after controlling for personality |journal=Personality and Individual Differences |volume=199 |article-number=111860 |doi=10.1016/j.paid.2022.111860 |doi-access=free |issn=1873-3549 |hdl=2066/282240 |hdl-access=free}} {{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=by4|from this source=yes}} | Anti-feminism{{r|Gheorghe 2024|Grunau 2022}} | Misanthropy | Nihilism{{cite web |url=https://gnet-research.org/2022/07/13/ideological-nihilism-and-aesthetic-violence-mass-shooters-and-online-antisocial-subcultures |title=Ideological Nihilism and Aesthetic Violence: Mass Shooters and Online Antisocial Subcultures |date=July 13, 2022 |last=Purdue |first=Simon |publisher=Global Network on Extremism & Technology |access-date=September 2, 2023 |archive-date=September 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230902075235/https://gnet-research.org/2022/07/13/ideological-nihilism-and-aesthetic-violence-mass-shooters-and-online-antisocial-subcultures |url-status=live |quote=The incel movement relies heavily on the idea of ideological nihilism}}{{r|Lindsay 2022|Baele 2019}} | Self-pity | Self-loathing{{cite news |url=https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/dating/a-look-inside-the-group-of-men-addicted-to-hating-women/news-story/a48bbeac194041ac597c21fe5d54fc61 |title=A look inside the group of men 'addicted' to hating women |last1=Foster |first1=Ally |date=June 6, 2018 |work=[News.com.au](/source/News.com.au) |access-date=June 6, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180606224817/https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/dating/a-look-inside-the-group-of-men-addicted-to-hating-women/news-story/a48bbeac194041ac597c21fe5d54fc61 |archive-date=June 6, 2018 |url-status=live}} | Racism, white supremacy | Entitlement to sex{{sfnp|Kennedy-Kollar|2024|pp=73–74}}{{r|Gheorghe 2024}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/24/toronto-van-attack-facebook-post-may-link-suspect-with-incel-group |title=Toronto van attack: Facebook post may link suspect to misogynist 'incel' subculture |last1=Wilson |first1=Jason |date=April 25, 2018 |newspaper=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian) |location=London, England |access-date=April 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425010650/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/24/toronto-van-attack-facebook-post-may-link-suspect-with-incel-group |archive-date=April 25, 2018 |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/4164340/alek-minassian-facebook-page/ |title=What we learned from Alek Minassian's Incel-linked Facebook page – and what we'd like to know |last=Cain |first=Patrick |date=April 24, 2018 |work=[Global News](/source/Global_News) |access-date=May 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180503195227/https://globalnews.ca/news/4164340/alek-minassian-facebook-page/ |archive-date=May 3, 2018 |url-status=live}} | Sexual objectification, dehumanization of women{{sfnp|Kennedy-Kollar|2024|p=72}}{{r|Gheorghe 2024|Preston 2021}} | Rape culture and sexual violence{{cite book |doi=10.4324/9781315270265-42 |chapter=Resisting rape culture in digital society |title=The Routledge International Handbook of Violence Studies |date=2018 |last1=Powell |first1=Anastasia |last2=Sugiura |first2=Lisa |pages=447–457 |isbn=978-1-315-27026-5 |s2cid=149584002 |quote=[T]he incel community presents just one extreme example of rape culture}} | Endorsement of violence against women and sexually active people{{r|Gheorghe 2024|Preston 2021}}{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2018/04/29/606773813/whats-an-incel-the-online-community-behind-the-toronto-van-attack |title=What's An 'Incel'? The Online Community Behind The Toronto Van Attack |last=Garcia-Navarro |first=Lulu |author-link=Lulu Garcia-Navarro |date=April 29, 2018 |work=[Weekend Edition Sunday](/source/Weekend_Edition_Sunday) |publisher=[National Public Radio](/source/National_Public_Radio) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180504211235/https://www.npr.org/2018/04/29/606773813/whats-an-incel-the-online-community-behind-the-toronto-van-attack |archive-date=May 4, 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=May 5, 2018}}}} }} Discussions often revolve around the belief that men are entitled to sex from women.{{sfnp|Kennedy-Kollar|2024|pp=73–74}}{{r|Gheorghe 2024|Wilson 2018a|Cain 2018}} In the incel worldview, the only solution to male sexlessness is a rigidly patriarchal social structure encompassing enforced monogamy and the elimination of [women's rights](/source/women's_rights), thereby increasing women's dependency on men.{{sfnp|Kennedy-Kollar|2024|p=73}} Some incels also advocate for [sexual slavery](/source/sexual_slavery), legalized [rape](/source/rape), punishment for female [promiscuity](/source/promiscuity), redistribution of women, and violence against feminists.{{sfnp|Kennedy-Kollar|2024|p=73}}{{r|Scaptura 2019}} Other common topics include idleness, [loneliness](/source/loneliness), unhappiness, suicide, [sexual surrogate](/source/sexual_surrogate)s, and [prostitution](/source/prostitution), as well as attributes they believe increase one's desirability as a partner such as looks, income or personality.{{cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/unmaking-of-an-incel_us_5b11a9aee4b0d5e89e1fb519?guccounter=1 |title=The Unmaking Of An Incel |last1=Jeltsen |first1=Melissa |date=June 7, 2018 |work=[HuffPost](/source/HuffPost) |access-date=June 8, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143406/https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/unmaking-of-an-incel_us_5b11a9aee4b0d5e89e1fb519?guccounter=1 |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/04/26/incel-rebellion-alek-minassian-sexual-entitlement-mens-rights-elliot-rodger/550635002/ |title=Incels, Alek Minassian and the dangerous idea of being owed sex |last=Dastagir |first=Alia E. |date=April 26, 2018 |work=[USA Today](/source/USA_Today) |access-date=May 8, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180506004957/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/04/26/incel-rebellion-alek-minassian-sexual-entitlement-mens-rights-elliot-rodger/550635002/ |archive-date=May 6, 2018 |url-status=live}} The incel community has a shared [victimhood identity](/source/Victim_mentality) in which individuals fatalistically celebrate their failures and discourage each other from seeking romantic success.{{cite journal |author=Costello |first1=William |last2=Buss |first2=David M. |author-link2=David Buss |date=July 12, 2023 |title=Why isn't There More Incel Violence? |url= |journal=Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=252–259 |issn=2198-7335 |doi=10.1007/s40750-023-00220-3 |s2cid=259870508}} Some studies found that [loneliness](/source/loneliness) and [social isolation](/source/social_isolation) are key aspects of inceldom.{{Cite journal |last=Sparks |first=Brandon |last2=Zidenberg |first2=Alexandra M. |last3=Olver |first3=Mark E. |date=2024 |title=One is the loneliest number: Involuntary celibacy (incel), mental health, and loneliness |journal=Current Psychology |language=en |volume=43 |issue=1 |pages=392–406 |issn=1936-4733 |doi=10.1007/s12144-023-04275-z |doi-access=free}} {{cc-notice|cc=by4|from this source=yes}} === "Red pill" and "black pill" === {{Redirect|Blackpill}} {{Further|Red pill and blue pill#In the manosphere}} The metaphor of the "[red pill](/source/red_pill)" originates from the movie ''[The Matrix](/source/The_Matrix)'' in which the protagonist must choose whether to remain in a world of illusion (taking the blue pill), or to see the world as it really is (taking the red pill).{{r|Baele 2019|Gheorghe 2024|Hoffman 2020}} In the wider [manosphere](/source/manosphere), an online association of anti-feminist and male supremacist groups that includes incels along with [men's rights activist](/source/men's_rights_activist)s (MRAs), [men going their own way](/source/men_going_their_own_way) (MGTOW) and [pick-up artist](/source/pick-up_artist)s (PUAs),{{cite journal |last1=Solea |first1=Anda Iulia |last2=Sugiura |first2=Lisa |title=Mainstreaming the Blackpill: Understanding the Incel Community on TikTok |journal=European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research |date=2023 |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=311–336 |doi=10.1007/s10610-023-09559-5 |doi-access=free |issn=0928-1371}} {{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=by4|from this source=yes}} the "red pill" refers to the belief that [male privilege](/source/male_privilege) is a feminist myth{{Cite book |last=Hodapp |first=Christa |title=Men's Rights, Gender, and Social Media |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-4985-2617-3 |location=Lanham, Md. |page=xvi}} and that feminism has instead granted women power and privilege over men.{{r|Lindsay 2022}} Incels believe that women leverage this societal privilege to obtain their favored romantic or sexual partners. To be "red-pilled" means to awaken to the realization that contemporary society has been engineered by feminists to reduce men's rights, and that men must fight against feminist [brainwashing](/source/brainwashing).{{r|Lindsay 2022}} Endorsing these beliefs means that one has "taken the red pill".{{Cite book |last=Zuckerberg |first=Donna |title=[Not All Dead White Men: Classics and Misogyny in the Digital Age](/source/Not_All_Dead_White_Men%3A_Classics_and_Misogyny_in_the_Digital_Age) |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-674-97555-2 |location=Cambridge, Mass. |page=11 |oclc=1020311558}} The concept of the "black pill"{{efn|The term "black pill" originated on the incel-related blog ''Omega Virgin Revolt'' in 2012.{{cite news |last1=Sonnad |first1=Nikhil |last2=Squirrell |first2=Tim |date=October 30, 2017 |title=The alt-right is creating its own dialect. Here's the dictionary |url=https://qz.com/1092037/the-alt-right-is-creating-its-own-dialect-heres-a-complete-guide/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307194831/https://qz.com/1092037/the-alt-right-is-creating-its-own-dialect-heres-a-complete-guide/ |archive-date=March 7, 2018 |access-date=July 30, 2025 |work=[Quartz](/source/Quartz_(publication))}}{{Cite web |date=November 6, 2019 |title=The Extremist Medicine Cabinet: A Guide to Online 'Pills' |url=https://www.adl.org/resources/article/extremist-medicine-cabinet-guide-online-pills |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241008075648/https://www.adl.org/resources/article/extremist-medicine-cabinet-guide-online-pills |archive-date=October 8, 2024 |access-date=August 2, 2025 |publisher=Anti-Defamation League}}}} or "blackpill"{{harvp|Kennedy-Kollar|2024|p=71}}: "The Blackpill is a concept that developed in incel communities in opposition to, or as a critique of, the Red Pill. It is based upon the same ideology, but it takes a more nihilistic position." developed on incel forums as a more [nihilistic](/source/nihilistic) critique of the "red pill".{{r|Kennedy-Kollar p71}} Expanding upon the red pill belief that men are an oppressed group, black pill ideology uses [pseudoscientific](/source/pseudoscientific) claims{{harvp|Sugiura|2021|p=8|ps=: "The blackpill is {{sic|comprised |hide=y|of}} commonly held beliefs, such as hypergamy, the 'just be white' (JBW) theory, the 80/20 rule of dating, lookism, the halo effect and sexual racism that rely on pseudoscience"}} to argue that the heterosexual dating market, and society in general, have been set up to benefit women and "[alpha males](/source/Alpha_and_beta_male)" on the basis of physical attractiveness.{{harvp|Lindsay|2022|pp=213, 215|ps=: "Adherents of the black pill believe that sexual activity is a primarily female-led marketplace operating under the laws of natural selection [...] the black pill simplistically categorises people into a three-tiered system. This hierarchy is primarily based on physical attraction: a minority of alpha males and 'desirable' females are located at the top, a majority of 'average-looking' 'betas' or 'normies' follow, and a minority of physically 'unpleasant' (exclusively male) incels are found at the bottom"}} Both worldviews portray women as manipulative, superficial, and [hypergamous](/source/hypergamous).{{r|Kennedy-Kollar p71}} The concept of ''hypergamy'' was originally applied to the mating choices of animals, but incels use the term to argue that women seek high-status men in order to increase the social, economic and genetic potential of their offspring.{{r|Lindsay 2022}} Most incels subscribe to the "black pill",{{sfnp|Sugiura|2021|p=9}} believing it is impossible for unattractive men to escape this social hierarchy.{{Multiref2 | {{harvp|Gheorghe|2024|p=60|ps=: "those who swallow the ''blackpill'' accept reality as a fatalistic, immutable and inescapable situation (e.g., believing that appearance matters and there is nothing you can do about it{{emdash}}you will never find romance if you are conventionally unattractive)"}} | {{harvp|Solea|Sugiura|2023|p=314|ps=: "the blackpill is central to the incel belief system and claims that unattractive men are unable to transcend the confnes of the social-sexual hierarchy that excludes them"}} | {{harvp|Lindsay|2022|p=215|ps=: "those who believe in the black pill understand that it is impossible to escape the social hierarchy that excludes them. [...] This hierarchy is primarily based on physical attraction"}} | {{harvp|Preston|Halpin|Maguire|2021|p=831–832|ps=: "incels are not attempting to become Chads, as part of the 'black pill' is accepting their perceived subordinate status and realizing they will never ascend the masculine hierarchy."}} | {{harvp|Baele|Brace|Coan|2019|p=1675|ps=: "the 'black pill' means that [incels] consider it impossible to escape the social hierarchy that supposedly excludes them"}} }} Incels commonly identify as either "redpilled" or "blackpilled", whereas non-incels who uphold mainstream views about romance and dating are seen as being "bluepilled".{{r|Gheorghe 2024}} Being "bluepilled", or "taking the bluepill", is a term incels use to describe those who are supposedly ignorant of how the world "really is",{{cite web |type=report |last=Brace |first=Lewys |date=April 2023 |title=Incels and the Incelosphere: An Overview of Current Research and Understanding |url=https://ciacco.org/files/D2DF/Incels%20and%20the%20Incelosphere_CREST.pdf |publisher=Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats; Lancaster University |publication-place=Lancaster, UK |access-date=April 14, 2026}} generally referring to those who believe the "comforting lie" that physical attraction is not the determining factor in social and sexual success.{{cite web |type=report |last1=Woodward |first1=Alexandra |last2=Wozniak |first2=Christopher |last3=Vargas |first3=Christie |last4=Gironda |first4=Mariapaola |last5=Silverberg |first5=Rayme |date=December 2021 |title=Incels: Inside the World of Involuntary Celibates |publisher=Center for Global Affairs; NYU School of Professional Studies |page=5 |url=https://archive.nyu.edu/bitstream/2451/63962/3/Incels_%20Inside%20the%20World%20of%20Involuntary%20Celibates%20-%20Alexandra%20Woodward.pdf |access-date=April 3, 2026}} The term "blue pill" is therefore used as the opposite of the black pill, the latter of which incels primarily subscribe to.{{cite web |type=report |author= |title=Incels: A Guide to Symbols and Terminology |publication-place=London |publisher=Moonshot |date=n.d. |url=https://journal-exit.de/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Incels_-A-Guide-to-Symbols-and-Terminology_Moonshot-CVE.pdf |access-date=April 14, 2026}} In other words, it is a term for people who do not ascribe to the incel's worldview. It is also a term used to describe individuals who are unaware of the existence of the incel social hierarchy along with individuals who reject its existence. The term "blue pill" is therefore used as the opposite of the red pill and especially the black pill, the latter of which incels primarily subscribe to. The term "purple pill" is occasionally used by incels as well, directed at people who have a neutral stance on gender relations, being neither on the "feminist side" nor the "[manosphere](/source/manosphere) side."{{sfnp|Woodward|Wozniak|Vargas|Gironda|2021|page=10}} Black pill ideology is defined by [biological determinism](/source/biological_determinism),{{harvp|Baele|Brace|Coan|2019|p=1675|ps=: "Members regularly post statistics and 'scientific' data to 'prove' the inescapability of Incel's predicaments, creating a sense of 'turbocharged genetic determinism.{{' "}} }} in contrast to ideas of [personal agency](/source/Agency_(philosophy)) and [self-improvement](/source/self-improvement) often associated with red pill beliefs.{{r|Hoffman 2020|ADL 2019}}{{Cite news |last=Barnés |first=Héctor G. |date=June 3, 2018 |title=De paseo por el infierno sexual: los hombres que se reúnen para insultar a las mujeres |trans-title=Walking through sexual hell: the men who meet to insult women |url=https://www.elconfidencial.com/alma-corazon-vida/2018-03-06/incel-hombres-insultan-mujeres-machismo_1528947/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612141332/https://www.elconfidencial.com/alma-corazon-vida/2018-03-06/incel-hombres-insultan-mujeres-machismo_1528947/ |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |access-date=June 9, 2018 |work=[El Confidencial](/source/El_Confidencial) |language=es}} Selected ideas from [evolutionary psychology](/source/evolutionary_psychology) are used to reinforce the idea of "sexual market value" in a mating system controlled by the most desirable women.{{r|Lindsay 2022}} Those who subscribe to red pill ideology believe they can use their knowledge of women's hypergamy to achieve success in the dating market{{r|Kennedy-Kollar p71}} and increase their own sexual market value, such as by improving their social skills{{r|Gheorghe 2024}} or physical appearance ("[looksmaxxing](/source/looksmaxxing)").{{r|Kennedy-Kollar p71}}{{r|Lindsay 2022}}{{harvp|Baele|Brace|Coan|2019|p=1675|ps=: "proponents of the lookism thesis who think in terms of the 'blue pill/red pill' duality hope that they can take advantage of knowing how society really works to escape their predicament (e.g., invest in aesthetic surgery or gym membership, become 'pickup artists')."}} However, according to black pill ideology, improving one's looks is futile, since dating success is entirely determined by genetics, keeping most men from achieving sexual dominance.{{Multiref2 | {{harvp|Kennedy-Kollar|2024|pp=70–71|ps=: "These attempts at 'looksmaxxing' are generally considered futile [...] Blackpillers, however, due to the influence of looks theory, believe that dating success is entirely influenced by genetically based appearance so most men can never achieve sexual dominance no matter what they do."}} | {{harvp|Solea|Sugiura|2023|p=315|ps=: "Blackpilled incels, however, vehemently reject the notion of improvement as they believe looks are genetically determined at birth, and thus, this attractiveness-based social hierarchy is immutable"}} | {{harvp|Lindsay|2022|p=217|ps=: "according to blackpill theory, maximising one's appearance is futile. For black pill adherents, your genetics determine your dating success."}} | {{harvp|Bachaud|2024|ps=: "In short, the blackpill holds that genetics determines one's romantic destiny, and incels believe they are the unfortunate losers of that all-important lottery."}} }} Incels also argue that dating apps have amplified and intesified female hypergamy, giving women easy accessibility to choose from different mates and "upgrade" their partner, continuously "trading up" to obtain a more desirable mate. As a result, incels argue that dating apps are a driving factor in producing men who are incels, leading to an unfair allocation of men who gain sexual access to women ("Chads"), while a growing majority of men remain sexless. Incels also argue that dating apps compound status-based hypergamy for women too, on top of merely looks-based hypergamy. Dating apps are therefore an acceleration of hypergamy, making the dating landscape more inequal and competitive. Incels also argue that social media inflates women's egos. The black pill promotes [fatalism](/source/fatalism){{r|Gheorghe 2024}}{{sfnp|Sugiura|2021|p=2}} and [defeatism](/source/defeatism) for men perceived to be [unattractive](/source/unattractive).{{r|Lindsay 2022|Burton 2022}} According to the black pill, as long as women are able to freely choose their sexual partners, genetically inferior men will only find a wife once she is past her sexual prime, who will only use the man for financial security.{{r|Kennedy-Kollar p71}} Researcher Angus Lindsay writes that the nihilistic worldview of the black pill appears to have influenced [terroristic](/source/terroristic) behavior by incels who have attempted violent retributions against those who are perceived to hold a higher social status.{{r|Lindsay 2022}} Hoffman et al. write that {{" '}}Taking the black pill' is critical to the incel identity, since it means recognizing 'inceldom' as a permanent condition". Aja Romano writes at ''[Vox](/source/Vox_(website))'' that black pill ideology "unites all incels". According to the [Anti-Defamation League](/source/Anti-Defamation_League) (ADL), there are some incels who believe in the red pill and others who believe in the black pill. Those who believe they can improve their chances with women are adherents to the "red pill", whereas only incels who believe they have little to no power to change their position in society or chances with women are blackpilled. The ADL writes that, among incels, the beliefs summarized as "red pill" center around the idea that feminism has unbalanced society to favor women and give them too much power. Redpilled incels believe they have the opportunity to fight back against this system which disadvantages them, which they do by trying to make themselves more attractive to women. Conversely, blackpilled incels are those who believe they can do nothing to change their situation. The ADL writes, "This is where the incel movement takes on characteristics of a [death cult](/source/Destructive_cult)". Those who have taken the black pill are left with few options, says the ADL: giving up on life (referred to by incels as "LDAR", an abbreviation for "lie down and rot"), dying by suicide, or committing mass violence. On [Reddit](/source/Reddit), notable figures within the incel community are described as having taken the black pill, such as the mass murderer [Elliot Rodger](/source/Elliot_Rodger). On the former incel subreddit r/braincels, the term "blackpill" was used for [meme](/source/meme) images that criticized women as egocentric, cruel, and shallow. The black pill has been described by ''Vox'' correspondent Zack Beauchamp as "a profoundly [sexist](/source/sexist) ideology that{{nbsp}}... amounts to a fundamental rejection of women's sexual emancipation, labeling women shallow, cruel creatures who will choose only the most attractive men if given the choice". Many self-identified incels support their beliefs through citations to scientific studies in fields including [psychology](/source/psychology), [sociology](/source/sociology), [evolutionary biology](/source/evolutionary_biology), [evolutionary psychology](/source/evolutionary_psychology), and [economics](/source/economics). Collections of research deemed to support their beliefs are sometimes named the "scientific blackpill".{{Cite journal |last1=Bachaud |first1=Louis |last2=Johns |first2=Sarah E. |date=2023 |title=The use and misuse of evolutionary psychology in online manosphere communities: The case of female mating strategies |journal=Evolutionary Human Sciences |volume=5 |article-number=e28 |doi=10.1017/ehs.2023.22 |doi-access=free |issn=2513-843X |pmc=10600567 |pmid=37901586}} {{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=by4|from this source=yes}} Some evolutionary psychology researchers{{Who|date=August 2025}} have disputed incels' interpretations of studies from their field, such as the [strategic pluralism](/source/strategic_pluralism) (or "double-mating strategy") hypothesis. Researchers at the [Institute for Strategic Dialogue](/source/Institute_for_Strategic_Dialogue) have described incels' appeals to science as part of a strategy of "[argument by exhaustion](/source/Ad_nauseam)", where "large numbers of references of dubious quality are made to back up questionable assertions". Self-identified incels regularly endorse the ideas of women's genetic inferiority,{{r|Scaptura 2019}} "female [hypergamy](/source/hypergamy)", the "80/20 rule" (an application of the [Pareto principle](/source/Pareto_principle), in which incels assert that 80% of women desire the top 20% of most desirable men, and that this top 20% of men monopolizes 80% of women),{{cite journal |last1=RAN Practitioners |date=June 17-18, 2021 |title=The Incel Phenomenon: Exploring Internal and External Issues Around Involuntary Celibates |url=https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2021-08/ran_cn_incel_phenomenon_20210803_en.pdf |journal=The Incel Phenomenon |volume= |issue= |publisher=Radicalisation Awareness Network |pages=2 |doi= |access-date=April 3, 2026}} and the "just be white" (JBW) theory, which posits that [white people](/source/white_people) face the fewest obstacles to relationships and sex.{{r|blackpill beliefs}}{{cite web |url=http://www.spiked-online.com/spiked-review/article/incels-the-ugly-truth/21562 |title=Incels: the ugly truth |last=Myers |first=Fraser |date=July 2018 |website=[Spiked Online](/source/Spiked_Online) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709231936/http://www.spiked-online.com/spiked-review/article/incels-the-ugly-truth/21562 |archive-date=July 9, 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=July 17, 2018}} Self-identified incels also believe that people seeking a romantic or sexual partner participate in a cruel, mercenary, and [Darwinian](/source/Darwinian) [sexual selection](/source/Sexual_selection_in_humans), wherein incels are genetically unfit and where women hold an advantage for reasons ranging from feminism to the use of [cosmetics](/source/cosmetics).{{cite news |url=https://www.ft.com/content/05873a47-0327-372f-93bd-bf0c6e84b2fb |url-access=registration |title='Sex redistribution' and the means of reproduction |last=Scaggs |first=Alexandra |date=May 8, 2018 |website=Financial Times |department=FT Alphaville |access-date=August 2, 2025}} {{registration required}}{{Better source needed|date=August 2025 |reason=opinion column; not reliable for factual claims per WP:NEWSOPED}} Some justify their beliefs based on the works of [fringe](/source/Fringe_science) [social psychologist](/source/social_psychologist) Brian Gilmartin and [clinical psychologist](/source/Clinical_psychology) [Jordan Peterson](/source/Jordan_Peterson).{{Cite news |last=Bowles |first=Nellie |author-link=Nellie Bowles |date=May 18, 2018 |title=Jordan Peterson, Custodian of the Patriarchy |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/18/style/jordan-peterson-12-rules-for-life.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190120182313/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/18/style/jordan-peterson-12-rules-for-life.html |archive-date=January 20, 2019 |issn=0362-4331 |url-access=limited}} Incels may attribute their lack of sexual success to factors such as shyness, [sex-segregated work environments](/source/Occupational_segregation), negative body image,{{cite news |date=July 24, 2001 |title=For many, sexless lifestyle is not a choice |publisher=[Georgia State University](/source/Georgia_State_University) |url=http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwexa/news/archive/2001/01_0724-invcelrel.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=June 8, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180530131149/http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwexa/news/archive/2001/01_0724-invcelrel.htm |archive-date=May 30, 2018 |last=Sutton |first=Stacie}} [penis size](/source/penis_size), or their physical appearance,{{cite news |url=http://www.theweek.co.uk/93167/what-is-the-incel-movement |title=What is the Incel Movement? |date=April 25, 2018 |work=[The Week](/source/The_Week) |access-date=June 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180530175748/http://www.theweek.co.uk/93167/what-is-the-incel-movement |archive-date=May 30, 2018 |url-status=live}} and commonly believe that the only thing more important than looks in improving a man's eligibility as a prospective partner is wealth.{{cite web |url=https://thevision.com/attualita/incel-maschilismo/ |title=Il vero nemico degli incel è il maschilismo stesso |last=Guerra |first=Jennifer |date=June 1, 2018 |website=The Vision |language=it |trans-title=The real enemy of incels is masculinity itself |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181208115632/https://thevision.com/attualita/incel-maschilismo/ |archive-date=December 8, 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=June 8, 2018}} === Extremism === Incel communities became more extremist and focused on violence from the late 2010s.{{Cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/incel-toxic-brotherhood-online-misogyny_us_5b490e5fe4b0bc69a7873ff0 |title=A Toxic 'Brotherhood': Inside Incels' Dark Online World |last=Cook |first=Jesselyn |date=July 27, 2018 |work=[HuffPost](/source/HuffPost) |access-date=August 8, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180807210710/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/incel-toxic-brotherhood-online-misogyny_us_5b490e5fe4b0bc69a7873ff0 |archive-date=August 7, 2018 |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/25/17279294/toronto-massacre-minassian-incels-internet-misogyny |title=The internet is enabling a community of men who want to kill women. They need to be stopped |last=Hudson |first=Laura |date=April 25, 2018 |work=[The Verge](/source/The_Verge) |access-date=August 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812052453/https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/25/17279294/toronto-massacre-minassian-incels-internet-misogyny |archive-date=August 12, 2018 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.vox.com/culture/2016/12/14/13576192/alt-right-sexism-recruitment |title=How the alt-right's sexism lures men into white supremacy |last=Romano |first=Aja |date=April 26, 2018 |work=[Vox](/source/Vox_(website)) |access-date=August 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810025059/https://www.vox.com/culture/2016/12/14/13576192/alt-right-sexism-recruitment |archive-date=August 10, 2018 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}} This has been attributed to factors including influences from overlapping online [hate group](/source/hate_group)s and the rise of the [alt-right](/source/alt-right) and [white supremacist](/source/white_supremacist) groups.{{Cite news |last=Taub |first=Amanda |date=May 9, 2018 |title=On Social Media's Fringes, Growing Extremism Targets Women |work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/09/world/americas/incels-toronto-attack.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180514031941/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/09/world/americas/incels-toronto-attack.html |archive-date=May 14, 2018 |issn=0362-4331 |url-access=limited}}{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/alt-right-fueled-toxic-masculinity-vice-versa-ncna989031 |title=The 'alt-right' is fueled by toxic masculinity – and vice versa |last=Futrelle |first=David |date=April 1, 2019 |work=[NBC News](/source/NBC_News) |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191124173015/https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/alt-right-fueled-toxic-masculinity-vice-versa-ncna989031 |archive-date=November 24, 2019 |access-date=March 13, 2020}} The misogynistic and violent rhetoric of some members of these communities has led to numerous bans from websites and [web hosts](/source/Web_hosting_service).{{Cite news |url=https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/gyj3yw/how-reddit-is-teaching-young-men-to-hate-women |title=How Reddit Is Teaching Young Men to Hate Women |last=Kini |first=Aditi Natasha |date=November 15, 2017 |work=[Vice](/source/Vice_(magazine)) |access-date=April 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425040159/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/gyj3yw/how-reddit-is-teaching-young-men-to-hate-women |archive-date=April 25, 2018 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/after-toronto-attack-online-misogynists-praise-suspect-new-saint-n868821 |title=After Toronto attack, online misogynists praise suspect as 'new saint' |last1=Collins |first1=Ben |date=April 24, 2018 |work=[NBC News](/source/NBC_News) |access-date=April 25, 2018 |last2=Zadrozny |first2=Brandy |author-link2=Brandy Zadrozny |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180424224553/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/after-toronto-attack-online-misogynists-praise-suspect-new-saint-n868821 |archive-date=April 24, 2018 |url-status=live}} Incel communities continue to exist on more lenient platforms including 4chan, [8chan](/source/8chan), and [Gab](/source/Gab_(social_network)), as well as on web forums created specifically for the topic.{{Cite news |last=Dewey |first=Caitlin |author-link=Caitlin Dewey Rainwater |date=October 7, 2015 |title=Incels, 4chan and the Beta Uprising: making sense of one of the Internet's most-reviled subcultures |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/10/07/incels-4chan-and-the-beta-uprising-making-sense-of-one-of-the-internets-most-reviled-subcultures/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171110225334/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/10/07/incels-4chan-and-the-beta-uprising-making-sense-of-one-of-the-internets-most-reviled-subcultures/ |archive-date=November 10, 2017 |issn=0190-8286 |url-access=limited}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/reddit-incels-ban/ |title=Why Reddit finally banned one of its most misogynistic forums |last=Hathaway |first=Jay |date=November 10, 2017 |work=[The Daily Dot](/source/The_Daily_Dot) |access-date=April 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171111023852/https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/reddit-incels-ban/ |archive-date=November 11, 2017 |url-status=live}} More extremist self-identified incels have increasingly migrated to obscure locations including gaming [chat services](/source/Chat_room) (such as [Discord](/source/Discord)) and the [dark web](/source/dark_web) to avoid site shutdowns and the self-censorship that has developed among some incel communities as an effort to avoid drawing scrutiny from law enforcement or website service providers. Beginning in 2018 and into the 2020s, the incel ideology has been described by North American governments and researchers{{Who|date=April 2026}} as a terrorism threat, and law enforcement have issued warnings about the subculture.{{cite web |type=report |url=https://icct.nl/publication/male-supremacist-terrorism-as-a-rising-threat/ |title=Male Supremacist Terrorism as a Rising Threat |last=DiBranco |first=Alex |date=February 10, 2020 |publisher=[International Centre for Counter-Terrorism](/source/International_Centre_for_Counter-Terrorism) |location=[The Hague](/source/The_Hague), [Netherlands](/source/Netherlands) |access-date=May 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200420024236/https://icct.nl/publication/male-supremacist-terrorism-as-a-rising-threat/ |archive-date=April 20, 2020 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |last=Beckett |first=Lois |date=March 3, 2021 |title=The misogynist incel movement is spreading. Should it be classified as a terror threat? |url=http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/mar/03/incel-movement-terror-threat-canada |access-date=April 4, 2021 |website=The Guardian |archive-date=March 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210327062142/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/mar/03/incel-movement-terror-threat-canada |url-status=live}} In May 2019, an American man was sentenced to up to five years in prison for making terrorist threats, posting on social media, "I'm planning on shooting up a public place{{nbsp}}... killing as many girls as I see". In September 2019, the [U.S. Army](/source/U.S._Army) warned soldiers about the possibility of violence at movie theaters showing the [''Joker''](/source/Joker_(2019_film)) film, after "disturbing and very specific chatter" was found in conversations among self-identified incels on the dark web. A January 2020 report by the [Texas Department of Public Safety](/source/Texas_Department_of_Public_Safety) warned that the incel movement was an "emerging [domestic terrorism](/source/domestic_terrorism) threat" that "could soon match, or potentially eclipse, the level of lethalness demonstrated by other domestic terrorism types".{{Cite news |last=Villarreal |first=Daniel |date=May 21, 2020 |title=Westgate Shooting Suspect Was an 'Incel' Who Wanted to Kill Couples, Prosecutor Alleges |work=[Newsweek](/source/Newsweek) |url=https://www.newsweek.com/westgate-gunman-identified-incel-intended-shoot-couples-prosecutor-says-1505837 |url-status=live |access-date=June 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522043036/https://www.newsweek.com/westgate-gunman-identified-incel-intended-shoot-couples-prosecutor-says-1505837 |archive-date=May 22, 2020}}{{cite news |last4=Rosenbach |first4=Marcel |last3=Müller |first3=Ann-Katrin |last2=Höfner |first2=Roman |last1=Baumgärtner |first1=Maik |date=March 10, 2021 |title=Hatred Against Women: The Dark World of Extremist Misogyny |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/from-digital-hate-to-analog-violence-the-dark-world-of-extremist-misogyny-a-832ed3cb-21d1-4e84-8c28-089365e91a83 |access-date=March 25, 2021 |website=[Der Spiegel](/source/Der_Spiegel) |archive-date=December 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211204130424/https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/from-digital-hate-to-analog-violence-the-dark-world-of-extremist-misogyny-a-832ed3cb-21d1-4e84-8c28-089365e91a83 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |type=report |url=http://www.dps.texas.gov/director_staff/media_and_communications/2020/txTerrorThreatAssessment.pdf |title=Texas Domestic Terrorism Threat Report |date=January 2020 |publisher=Texas Department of Public Safety |page=3 |access-date=January 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200109000459/https://www.dps.texas.gov/director_staff/media_and_communications/2020/txTerrorThreatAssessment.pdf |archive-date=January 9, 2020 |url-status=live}} A 2020 paper published by Bruce Hoffman and colleagues in ''Studies in Conflict & Terrorism'' concluded that "the violent manifestations of the ideology pose a new terrorism threat, which should not be dismissed or ignored by domestic law enforcement agencies". [John Horgan](/source/John_Horgan_(political_psychologist)), a psychology professor at Georgia State University who in 2019 received a $250,000 grant from the [U.S. Department of Homeland Security](/source/U.S._Department_of_Homeland_Security) to study the incel subculture, explained why the incel ideology equates to terrorism: "the fact that incels are aspiring to change things up in a bigger, broader ideological sense, that's, for me, what make it a classic example of terrorism. That's not saying all incels are terrorists. But violent incel activity is, unquestionably, terrorism in my view".{{Cite web |title=A Canadian teenager has been charged with terrorism inspired by the online 'incel' movement. What is an 'incel?' |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/05/21/canadian-authorities-incel-terrorism-toronto-massage/5226407002/ |last=Culver |first=Jordan |date=May 22, 2020 |website=[USA Today](/source/USA_Today) |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200523024640/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/05/21/canadian-authorities-incel-terrorism-toronto-massage/5226407002/ |archive-date=May 23, 2020 |access-date=May 25, 2020}} In February 2020, [an attack in Toronto](/source/2020_Toronto_machete_attack) that was allegedly motivated by incel ideologies became the first such act of violence to be prosecuted as terrorism, and the [Royal Canadian Mounted Police](/source/Royal_Canadian_Mounted_Police) stated that they consider the incel subculture to be an "Ideologically Motivated Violent Extremist (IMVE)" movement. In 2021, Jacob Ware wrote in ''Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses'' that analysis of incels has been focused within the United States and Canada due to the concentration of incel-motivated attacks in those countries.{{Cite journal |last=Ware |first=Jacob |date=2021 |title=Beta Uprising: Is there an Incel Threat to Asia? |journal=Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=10–15 |jstor=27016616 |jstor-access=free |issn=2382-6444}} In March 2022, the [United States Secret Service](/source/United_States_Secret_Service)'s National Threat Assessment Center, published a [case study](/source/case_study) titled "Hot Yoga Tallahassee: A Case Study of Misogynistic Extremism", to examine the [2018 Tallahassee shooting](/source/2018_Tallahassee_shooting) at a [hot yoga](/source/hot_yoga) studio and draw attention to "the specific threat posed by misogynist extremism."{{cite web |last1=Staff of the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center |title=Hot Yoga Tallahassee: A Case Study of Misogynistic Extremism |url=https://www.secretservice.gov/sites/default/files/reports/2022-03/NTAC%20Case%20Study%20-%20Hot%20Yoga%20Tallahassee.pdf |publisher=United States Secret Service; U.S. Department of Homeland Security |access-date=March 16, 2022 |language=English |date=March 2022 |archive-date=March 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220315204227/https://www.secretservice.gov/sites/default/files/reports/2022-03/NTAC%20Case%20Study%20-%20Hot%20Yoga%20Tallahassee.pdf |url-status=live}} === Promotion of violence === [[File:Elliot Rodger-2014.jpg|thumb|upright|Many incels glorify [Elliot Rodger](/source/Elliot_Rodger) and consider him their "[saint](/source/saint)".{{r|Baele 2019}}]] Some discussions in incel communities endorse violence against sexually active women and more sexually successful men,{{cite web |last=Howard |first=Miles |date=May 7, 2018 |title=Has Mainstream Misogyny Created Space For The 'Incel Rebellion'? |url=http://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2018/05/07/incel-rebellion-miles-howard |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180514213641/http://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2018/05/07/incel-rebellion-miles-howard |archive-date=May 14, 2018 |access-date=May 14, 2018 |publisher=[WBUR](/source/WBUR)}} harassment of women, and suicide.{{Cite web |last=Khawaja |first=Moign |date=October 9, 2019 |title=Violent Misogyny, Mass Murder and Suicide: It's Time to Save Incels from Themselves |url=https://voxpol.eu/violent-misogyny-mass-murder-and-suicide-its-time-to-save-incels-from-themselves/ |access-date=May 15, 2025 |website=VOX-Pol |language=en-US}} According to the [Anti-Defamation League](/source/Anti-Defamation_League), they form the most violent community within the manosphere.{{Cite web |date=July 30, 2020 |title=Incels (Involuntary celibates) |url=https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/incels-involuntary-celibates |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731020712/https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/incels-involuntary-celibates |archive-date=July 31, 2020 |access-date=August 1, 2020 |publisher=Anti-Defamation League}} In some incel communities, it is common for posts to glorify violence by self-identified incels such as [Elliot Rodger](/source/Elliot_Rodger) (perpetrator of the [2014 Isla Vista killings](/source/2014_Isla_Vista_killings)) and Alek Minassian (perpetrator of the [2018 Toronto van attack](/source/2018_Toronto_van_attack)),{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43892189 |title=Elliot Rodger: How misogynist killer became 'incel hero ' |date=April 26, 2018 |work=BBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180512075225/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43892189 |archive-date=May 12, 2018 |url-status=}}{{cite web |url=http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-elliot-rodger-incel-20180426-story.html |title=How Elliot Rodger went from misfit mass murderer to 'saint' for group of misogynists — and suspected Toronto killer |last1=Branson-Potts |first1=Hailey |last2=Winton |first2=Richard |date=April 26, 2018 |website=[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180513152607/http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-elliot-rodger-incel-20180426-story.html |archive-date=May 13, 2018 |url-status=live |url-access=limited}}{{Cite web |last=Gillies |first=Rob |date=March 3, 2021 |title=Man who used van to kill 10 pedestrians in Toronto guilty |url=https://apnews.com/article/world-news-toronto-alek-minassian-coronavirus-pandemic-15af231df8d4727d78c2456eeebef29a |access-date=March 19, 2021 |publisher=Associated Press |archive-date=April 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412151507/https://apnews.com/article/world-news-toronto-alek-minassian-coronavirus-pandemic-15af231df8d4727d78c2456eeebef29a |url-status=live}} as well as by those they believe shared their ideology such as [Marc Lépine](/source/Marc_L%C3%A9pine) (perpetrator of the 1989 [École Polytechnique massacre](/source/%C3%89cole_Polytechnique_massacre)), [Seung-Hui Cho](/source/Seung-Hui_Cho) (perpetrator of the 2007 [Virginia Tech shooting](/source/Virginia_Tech_shooting)),{{Cite magazine |url=http://bust.com/feminism/15551-mo-beta-blues.html |title='Beta Males' Want To Kill Women Because They Can't Get Laid |last=Pennacchia |first=Robyn |magazine=Bust |date=February–March 2016 |issn=1089-4713 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180507103333/http://bust.com/feminism/15551-mo-beta-blues.html |archive-date=May 7, 2018 |url-status=}} and George Sodini (perpetrator of the [2009 Collier Township shooting](/source/2009_Collier_Township_shooting)). Rodger is the most frequently referenced, often being referred to as their "[saint](/source/saint)"{{r|Branson-Potts 2018}} with memes in which his face has been superimposed onto paintings of [Christian icons](/source/Christian_icons). Some incels consider him to be the true progenitor of today's online incel communities. In 2020, the [BBC](/source/BBC) described Rodger as "the founding father of the incel ideology".{{Cite news |date=December 14, 2020 |title=Gabrielle Friel: Terror accused 'idolised' Californian spree killer |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-55302122 |access-date=January 29, 2024 |work=[BBC News](/source/BBC_News) |language=en-GB |archive-date=January 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240129163433/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-55302122 |url-status=live}} Some within these communities view violence as the only solution to what they see as societal oppression and abuse against them and speak frequently of incel "uprisings" and "revolts". Others take the more nihilistic view that nothing will change society, even violent acts, and focus their efforts on constructing a scientific justification for this nihilism. Some support the idea of violence as revenge on society, without the hope it will lead to societal change. Researchers William Costello and [David Buss](/source/David_Buss) have questioned the degree of violence found in incel communities, suggesting that "extreme inceldom looks more like suicidality than violence toward others". Some violent posts may be motivated by status-seeking behavior by individuals on forums, rather than a desire to promote violence.{{Rp|page=735}} A 2021 study found that the overwhelming majority of self-identified incels themselves do not think that incel groups promote violence.{{Cite journal |last1=Speckhard |first1=Anne |last2=Ellenberg |first2=Molly |last3=Morton |first3=Jesse |last4=Ash |first4=Alexander |date=2021 |title=Involuntary Celibates' Experiences of and Grievance over Sexual Exclusion and the Potential Threat of Violence Among Those Active in an Online Incel Forum |journal=Journal of Strategic Security |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=89–121 |doi=10.5038/1944-0472.14.2.1910 |issn=1944-0464 |jstor=27026635 |jstor-access=free |doi-access=free}}{{Rp|page=735}} A 2022 study found that most self-identified incels surveyed (79%) rejected violence.{{Cite journal |last1=Moskalenko |first1=Sophia |last2=González |first2=Juncal Fernández-Garayzábal |last3=Kates |first3=Naama |last4=Morton |first4=Jesse |date=January 31, 2022 |title=Incel Ideology, Radicalization and Mental Health: A Survey Study |url=https://journals.lib.sfu.ca/index.php/jicw/article/view/3817 |journal=The Journal of Intelligence, Conflict, and Warfare |language=en |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=1–29 |doi=10.21810/jicw.v4i3.3817 |issn=2561-8229 |doi-access=free |access-date=February 27, 2023 |archive-date=February 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227023032/https://journals.lib.sfu.ca/index.php/jicw/article/view/3817 |url-status=live}} ==== Sexual violence ==== {{See also|Estimates of sexual violence|Rape statistics}} A subgroup of self-identified incels who frequent websites founded by [Nathan Larson](/source/Nathan_Larson_(criminal)), who was a [perennial political candidate](/source/perennial_political_candidate) and active participant in incel communities, work deliberately to convince other self-identified incels that they are justified in raping women if they are rejected sexually. Some self-identified incels describe women's sexual rejection of them as "reverse rape", a phenomenon they consider to be equally harmful as rape. A September 2022 report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, about the largest dedicated incel forum, found that users posted about rape once every 29 minutes during their study period, and used the word "kill" 1,181 times in one month. During the study period, 89% of forum users expressed that they support rape in general. According to the report, some posters on the forum try to normalize the idea of [child rape](/source/child_rape), and more than half the total forum during their study period supported [pedophilia](/source/pedophilia). The report also exposed that the incel forum site operators had changed a forum rule in March 2022, to allow for the sexualization of [pubescent](/source/Puberty) minors, narrowing an existing rule to outlaw only the sexualization of "pre-pubescent" minors. === Promotion of suicide === According to incels, taking the black pill leaves incels with limited options, one of which is suicide: incels not only engage in suicidal fantasies on forums, but also encourage one another to commit suicide. Incels seeking a means of distraction to avoid suicide are referred to as "coping", meaning they are seeking avoidant or accommodating coping mechanisms to distract themselves from their pain as incels, and by extension, their ultimate suicide. Incels who "cope" (that is, avoid suicide) use various practices and tactics, including immersing themselves into hobbies, as distracting activities.{{cite journal |last1=Daly |first1=Sarah E. |last2=Laskovsov |first2=Albina |date=2022 |title='Goodbye, My Friencels': An Analysis of Incel Suicide Posts |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/qc/vol11/iss1/1/ |format=PDF |journal=Qualitative Criminology (QC) |volume=11 |issue=1 |article-number=1 |issn=2766-6972}} It has been argued{{By whom|date=April 2026}} that the desire for suicide along with its promotion are reflective of the indoctrination into incel ideology, rather than suicidal thoughts being a gateway for entering into incel communities.{{cite journal |last1=Boyd |first1=Josephine |last2=Boniface |first2=Lauren |last3=Parsons |first3=Damon |last4=Murphy |first4=David |last5=Hafferty |first5=Jonathan D. |date=2023 |title=Incels, Violence and Mental Disorder: A Narrative Review With Recommendations for Best Practice in Risk Assessment and Clinical Intervention |journal=BJPsych Advances |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=254-264 |issn=2056-4686 |doi=10.1192/bja.2022.15 |doi-access=free}} {{cc-notice|cc=by4|from this source=yes}} ===Racial beliefs=== Racism is generally considered{{By whom|date=August 2025}} to be common on incel forums, though some researchers{{Who|date=April 2026}} have questioned its prevalence. In 2019, Jaki et al. estimated that 3 percent of comments on incel forums contained words from a list of racist words identified by the researchers.{{Cite journal |last1=Hart |first1=Gavin |last2=Huber |first2=Antoinette Raffaela |date=April 2, 2023 |title=Five Things We Need to Learn About Incel Extremism: Issues, Challenges and Avenues for Fresh Research |journal=Studies in Conflict & Terrorism |volume=49 |pages=98–114 |doi=10.1080/1057610x.2023.2195067 |issn=1057-610X |doi-access=free}} Some researchers{{Who|date=August 2025}} have questioned [linguistic analysis](/source/linguistic_analysis) of incel forums as the primary methodology for studying the subculture, recommending that future researchers employ qualitative methods such as one-on-one interviews to obtain a more nuanced view and to avoid results being skewed by the prevalence of [shitposting](/source/shitposting) on incel forums.{{Rp|page=736}}{{Cite journal |last1=Daly |first1=Sarah E. |last2=Reed |first2=Shon M. |date=October 19, 2021 |title='I Think Most of Society Hates Us': A Qualitative Thematic Analysis of Interviews with Incels |journal=Sex Roles |volume=86 |issue=1–2 |pages=14–33 |doi=10.1007/s11199-021-01250-5 |issn=0360-0025 |s2cid=255008809}} Incels believe that being [white](/source/White_people) makes one more attractive to potential mates, paralleling ideas of [race science](/source/race_science) promoted by the far right. This often encourages racist attacks on [Black, indigenous, and people of color](/source/Black%2C_indigenous%2C_and_people_of_color) (BIPOC) members of incel forums.{{r|Lindsay 2022}} Such "racepill" ideology portrays whiteness as the most desirable racial classification, often invoked using the phrase "Just be White" (JBW). Incels attempting to appear more white in order to attract a partner call this process "whitemaxxing". Racialized incels engage in whitemaxxing because they believe it will increase their access to women. According to them, being white embodies a larger sexual value in the dating space, allowing racialized incels to climb the social and sexual hierarchy in an attempt to become more attractive to women. Being non-white, therefore, is generally a disadvantage according to incels.{{r|Gheorghe 2024}} Methods of whitemaxxing include skin bleaching, lying about one's ethnicity, wearing colored eye contacts, and changing one's legal name—all in an effort to appear more white, and therefore more desirable by women in the incel's view.{{r|Gheorghe 2024}} [Antisemitic](/source/Antisemitic) beliefs are regularly found on incel forums, with some posters blaming the rise of feminism on a plot masterminded by [Jews](/source/Jews) to weaken the [Western world](/source/Western_world). === In context of related communities === Incel communities are a part of the broader [manosphere](/source/manosphere), a loose collection of misogynist and anti-feminist movements that also includes [men's rights activists](/source/men's_rights_activists){{Nbsp}}(MRAs), [Men Going Their Own Way](/source/Men_Going_Their_Own_Way){{Nbsp}}(MGTOW), [pickup artist](/source/pickup_artist)s{{Nbsp}}(PUAs), and [fathers' rights](/source/fathers'_rights) groups.{{r|Solea 2023}}{{Cite journal |last=Ging |first=Debbie |year=2019 |title=Alphas, Betas, and Incels: Theorizing the Masculinities of the Manosphere |journal=Men and Masculinities |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=638–657 |doi=10.1177/1097184x17706401 |s2cid=149239953 |issn=1097-184X |doi-access=}}{{Cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=Callum |last2=Trott |first2=Verity |last3=Wright |first3=Scott |date=2020 |title=Sluts and soyboys: MGTOW and the production of misogynistic online harassment |journal=New Media & Society |volume=22 |issue=10 |pages=1903–1921 |doi=10.1177/1461444819887141 |s2cid=210530415 |issn=1461-4448 |doi-access= |quote=The Manosphere is now home to several different groups, including pickup artists, the more radical 'Incels', father's groups, Men's Rights Activists (MRAs) and the Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW) group and each has important differences that need to be unpacked.}} The [Southern Poverty Law Center](/source/Southern_Poverty_Law_Center) describes the incel subculture as "part of the online [male supremacist](/source/male_supremacist) ecosystem", which they began including in their list of hate groups in 2018.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nbc26.com/newsy/what-is-male-supremacy-according-to-southern-poverty-law-center |title=What Is 'Male Supremacy,' According To Southern Poverty Law Center? |last1=Judy |first1=Cliff |date=February 22, 2018 |work=[WGBA-TV](/source/WGBA-TV) |access-date=April 25, 2018 |last2=Mendoza |first2=Casey |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425115908/https://www.nbc26.com/newsy/what-is-male-supremacy-according-to-southern-poverty-law-center |archive-date=April 25, 2018 |url-status=dead}}{{r|Janik 2018}} ''The New York Times'' describes involuntary celibacy as an adaptation of male supremacy, saying that incels "believe that women should be treated as sexual objects with few rights".{{Cite news |last=Chokshi |first=Niraj |date=April 24, 2018 |title=What Is an Incel? Explaining a Term Used by the Toronto Van Attack Suspect |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/24/world/canada/incel-reddit-meaning-rebellion.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425023131/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/24/world/canada/incel-reddit-meaning-rebellion.html |archive-date=April 25, 2018 |issn=0362-4331 |url-access=limited}} While the self-identified incels believe they are inferior to the rest of society, often referring to themselves as "subhuman", they also espouse supremacist views: either that they are superior to women, or superior to non-incels in general.{{cite web |last=Tait |first=Amelia |date=May 8, 2018 |title=We must try to understand how unwanted virginity leads self-hating incels to murder |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/2018/05/we-must-try-understand-how-unwanted-virginity-leads-self-hating-incels-murder |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528133904/https://www.newstatesman.com/2018/05/we-must-try-understand-how-unwanted-virginity-leads-self-hating-incels-murder |archive-date=May 28, 2018 |access-date=May 28, 2018 |website=[The New Statesman](/source/The_New_Statesman) |url-access=limited}}{{Cite web |last=Sisley |first=Dominique |date=December 13, 2019 |title=The Story of the Incel Is the Story of the 2010s |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/what-is-an-incel-how-incel-culture-grew-2010s/ |access-date=May 26, 2020 |website=[Vice](/source/Vice_(magazine)) |archive-date=May 15, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200515225419/https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/m7qqen/what-is-an-incel-how-incel-culture-grew-2010s |url-status=live}} A 2019 study published in ''[Terrorism and Political Violence](/source/Terrorism_and_Political_Violence)'' found that self-identified incels believe themselves to be the only ones who are "capable of [pro-social](/source/pro-social) values and intelligent enough ('high [IQ](/source/IQ)') to see the truth about the social world". The study determined that they followed a pattern that is typical of extremist groups, ascribing highly negative values to [out-groups](/source/In-group_and_out-group) and positive values to in-groups, with the unusual caveat that despite seeing themselves as psychologically superior, they also view themselves negatively in terms of physical appearance. Incel communities sometimes overlap with communities such as Men Going Their Own Way, men's rights activism, people who believe they are experiencing "true forced loneliness" (TFL), and pickup artistry, although at least one incel website has expressed hatred for pickup artistry and accused pickup artists and [dating coach](/source/dating_coach)es of financially exploiting incels.{{cite web |last=Sherwell |first=Philip |date=May 31, 2014 |title=Elliot Rodger: How Hollywood tried and failed to save a mass killer |url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/elliot-rodger-how-hollywood-tried-and-failed-to-save-a-mass-killer-20140601-zru5n.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612162040/https://www.smh.com.au/world/elliot-rodger-how-hollywood-tried-and-failed-to-save-a-mass-killer-20140601-zru5n.html |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |access-date=June 10, 2018 |website=[The Sydney Morning Herald](/source/The_Sydney_Morning_Herald)}}{{cite web |last=Gell |first=Aaron |date=May 24, 2014 |title=Online Forum For Sexually Frustrated Men Reacts To News That Mass Shooter May Be One Of Their Own |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/ucsb-shooting-forum-associated-with-elliot-rodger-reacts-2014-5 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143614/http://www.businessinsider.com/ucsb-shooting-forum-associated-with-elliot-rodger-reacts-2014-5 |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |access-date=June 10, 2018 |website=[Business Insider](/source/Business_Insider)}} In 2019, media scholar Debbie Ging wrote that incels' discourse around "victimhood and aggrieved entitlement" began on 4chan and has spread into more mainstream groups such as men's rights activists and Men Going Their Own Way.{{r|Ging 2019}} Incel communities have also been observed to overlap with [far-right](/source/far-right) groups. In 2019, the Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right noted that the subculture is "part of a growing trend of [radical-right](/source/Radical_right_(United_States)) movements" that are distressed by [neoliberalism](/source/neoliberalism), especially women's empowerment and immigration.{{Cite web |last=Gilmore |first=Justin |date=November 11, 2019 |title=Incels: The New Politics of Indifference |url=https://www.radicalrightanalysis.com/2019/11/11/incels-the-new-politics-of-indifference/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605095822/https://www.radicalrightanalysis.com/2019/11/11/incels-the-new-politics-of-indifference/ |archive-date=June 5, 2020 |access-date=July 31, 2025 |website=Radical Right Analysis}} In 2020, Hoffman and colleagues, in ''Studies in Conflict & Terrorism'', stated that "a particularly worrisome trend is how seamlessly the militant incel community has been integrated into the alt-right tapestry, with common grievances and intermingling membership bringing the two extremisms closer together". In March 2021, {{Lang|de|[Der Spiegel](/source/Der_Spiegel)}} reported on the overlap between the incel community and the [Feuerkrieg Division](/source/Feuerkrieg_Division), a group modeled after the [Atomwaffen Division](/source/Atomwaffen_Division), a [neo-Nazi](/source/neo-Nazi) terrorist network. == Lexicology == The term "involuntary celibate" (shortened to "incel") refers to self-identifying members of an online subculture, based around the inability to find a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one, a state they describe as "inceldom" or "incelibacy".{{cite news |url=https://www.vox.com/world/2018/4/25/17277496/incel-toronto-attack-alek-minassian |title=Incel, the misogynist ideology that inspired the deadly Toronto attack, explained |last1=Beauchamp |first1=Zack |date=April 25, 2018 |website=[Vox](/source/Vox_(website)) |publisher=[Vox Media](/source/Vox_Media) |location=New York City |access-date=May 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180505073901/https://www.vox.com/world/2018/4/25/17277496/incel-toronto-attack-alek-minassian |archive-date=May 5, 2018 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}{{Cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2018/04/25/us/incel-rebellion-alek-minassian-toronto-attack-trnd/index.html |title=The Toronto suspect apparently posted about an 'incel rebellion.' Here's what that means |last=Mezzofiore |first=Gianluca |date=April 25, 2018 |publisher=[CNN](/source/CNN) |location=Atlanta, Georgia |access-date=April 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180426031738/https://edition.cnn.com/2018/04/25/us/incel-rebellion-alek-minassian-toronto-attack-trnd/index.html |archive-date=April 26, 2018 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=When a Mass Murderer Has a Cult Following |url=https://www.thecut.com/2018/04/incel-meaning-rebellion-alex-minassian-elliot-rodger-reddit.html |last=Futrelle |first=David |date=April 27, 2018 |website=[The Cut](/source/New_York_(magazine)) |publisher=[Vox Media](/source/Vox_Media) |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180506145559/https://www.thecut.com/2018/04/incel-meaning-rebellion-alex-minassian-elliot-rodger-reddit.html |archive-date=May 6, 2018 |access-date=May 5, 2018}} It is sometimes used interchangeably or alongside other terms, such as "love-shy" (describing those with [social anxiety](/source/social_anxiety) or excessive shyness preventing romantic success),{{cite journal |last1=Hudson |first1=Jennifer L. |last2=Rapee |first2=Ronald M. |date=2000 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/224826363 |format=PDF |title=The Origins of Social Phobia |journal=Behavior Modification |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=102–129 |issn=0145-4455 |doi=10.1177/0145445500241006 |pmid=10641370 |s2cid=2067720 |access-date=February 20, 2020 |via=ResearchGate}} "FA" (short for "forever alone"),{{Cite news |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/local/columnists/andreatta/2018/05/04/loneliest-generation-social-media/581306002/ |title=Andreatta: Feeling lonely? You're not alone |last=Andreatta |first=David |date=May 4, 2018 |work=[Democrat and Chronicle](/source/Democrat_and_Chronicle) |access-date=May 16, 2018 |archive-date=September 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920074816/https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/local/columnists/andreatta/2018/05/04/loneliest-generation-social-media/581306002/ |url-status=live}} "unfuckability",{{Cite journal |last=Srinivasan |first=Amia |author-link=Amia Srinivasan |date=March 22, 2018 |title=Does anyone have the right to sex? |url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/v40/n06/amia-srinivasan/does-anyone-have-the-right-to-sex |url-status=live |journal=London Review of Books |volume=40 |issue=6 |pages=5–10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612141359/https://www.lrb.co.uk/v40/n06/amia-srinivasan/does-anyone-have-the-right-to-sex |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |access-date=June 10, 2018 |url-access=limited}} "omegas", "betas", "betafags",{{r|Ging 2019}} "the undersexed",{{Cite news |last=Long |first=Camilla |author-link=Camilla Long |date=April 29, 2018 |title=Kanye West always turns out to know best. So don't patronise him for loving Trump |work=[The Times](/source/The_Times) |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/kanye-west-always-turns-out-to-know-best-so-dont-patronise-him-for-loving-trump-drqrd66gj |url-status=live |access-date=August 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810010742/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/kanye-west-always-turns-out-to-know-best-so-dont-patronise-him-for-loving-trump-drqrd66gj |archive-date=August 10, 2018 |issn=0140-0460 |url-access=limited}} {{registration required}} or "the sexless".{{Cite news |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/04/toronto-van-incel/558836/ |title=ISIS Tactics Have Spread to Other Violent Actors |last=Wood |first=Graeme |author-link=Graeme Wood (journalist) |date=April 24, 2018 |magazine=[The Atlantic](/source/The_Atlantic) |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=May 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180503180554/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/04/toronto-van-incel/558836/ |archive-date=May 3, 2018 |url-status=live |url-access=limited}} Alana, the coiner of the term "incel", initially considered using other terms such as "perpetually single" or "dating shy". Members of incel communities regularly use [jargon](/source/jargon) and a distinct dialect. They often use dehumanizing and vulgar terms for women, such as "femoids" (a portmanteau of "female [humanoid](/source/humanoid)s",{{Cite book |last1=Kelly |first1=Megan |title=Misogynist Incels and Male Supremacism: Overview and Recommendations for Addressing the Threat of Male Supremacist Violence |last2=DiBranco |first2=Alex |last3=DeCook |first3=Julia R. |date=February 18, 2021 |publisher=[New America](/source/New_America_(organization)) |chapter=Increasing Rhetoric of Dehumanization |chapter-url=https://www.newamerica.org/political-reform/reports/misogynist-incels-and-male-supremacism/increasing-rhetoric-of-dehumanization |access-date=June 20, 2023 |archive-date=March 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323230450/https://www.newamerica.org/political-reform/reports/misogynist-incels-and-male-supremacism/increasing-rhetoric-of-dehumanization/ |url-status=live}} sometimes shortened further to "foids") and "roasties" (a reference to the [labia minora](/source/labia_minora), which incels falsely{{Cite journal |last1=Clerico |first1=C. |last2=Lari |first2=A. |last3=Mojallal |first3=A. |last4=Boucher |first4=F. |date=March 10, 2017 |title=Anatomy and Aesthetics of the Labia Minora: The Ideal Vulva? |journal=Aesthetic Plastic Surgery |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=714–719 |doi=10.1007/s00266-017-0831-1 |pmid=28314908 |s2cid=4738537 |issn=0364-216X}} believe changes shape and begins to resemble sliced [roast beef](/source/roast_beef) after a woman becomes sexually active).{{Cite book |last=Waśniewska |first=Małgorzata |title=Cultural Conceptualizations in Language and Communication |publisher=Springer Nature |year=2020 |isbn=978-3-030-42734-4 |editor-last=Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk |editor-first=Barbara |location=Cham, Switzerland |page=76 |chapter=The Red Pill, Unicorns and White Knights: Cultural Symbolism and Conceptual Metaphor in the Slang of Online Incel Communities |series=Second Language Learning and Teaching |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-42734-4_4 |s2cid=226470277}}{{anchor|AnchorBecky}} They refer to attractive, sexually active women as "Stacys" and less attractive sexually active women as "Beckys". Attractive sexually active men are referred to as "[Chads](/source/Chads)", and race-based variations on the term include "Tyrone" for black men and "Chang" for Asian men.{{r|Preston 2021}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/05/03/the-harpy-someone-please-tell-the-times-that-incels-are-terrorists/ |title=Someone Please Tell the Times That Incels Are Terrorists |last=Lavin |first=Talia |date=May 3, 2018 |work=[The Village Voice](/source/The_Village_Voice) |access-date=May 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180514142143/https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/05/03/the-harpy-someone-please-tell-the-times-that-incels-are-terrorists/ |archive-date=May 14, 2018 |url-status=dead}} People who are average looking but not incels are "normies". Normies occupy the "middle ground" in the incel hierarchy, between the highly attractive desirable males who are at the top (the "Chads"), and the incels themselves who are at the bottom. "Mogging" refers to the act of eclipsing another person in terms of physical appearance and thereby undermining them. [Looksmaxxing](/source/Looksmaxxing) is an attempt at enhancing one's appearance by methods including getting a haircut and dressing nicely, taking [steroids](/source/Anabolic_steroid) and working out, undergoing [plastic surgery](/source/plastic_surgery), or engaging in alternative techniques such as [mewing](/source/Mewing_(orthotropics)) in hopes of improving facial aesthetics.{{cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/learn-to-decode-the-secret-language-of-the-incel-subculture/ |title=Learn to Decode the Secret Language of the Incel Subculture |last=Contie |first=Allie |date=June 26, 2018 |website=[Vice](/source/Vice_News) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710021620/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/7xmaze/learn-to-decode-the-secret-language-of-the-incel-subculture |archive-date=July 10, 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=July 17, 2018}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/amp/en/article/d3medj/mewing-is-the-fringe-orthodontic-technique-taking-over-youtube |title=Mewing Is the Fringe Orthodontic Technique Taking Over YouTube |date=March 11, 2019 |website=Vice.com |last=Cresci |first=Elena |access-date=November 5, 2022 |archive-date=November 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105135722/https://www.vice.com/amp/en/article/d3medj/mewing-is-the-fringe-orthodontic-technique-taking-over-youtube |url-status=dead}} The abbreviation "[NEET](/source/NEET)" refers to people who do not have jobs and are not attending school: "not in education, employment, or training".{{Cite news |url=https://psmag.com/news/who-are-the-incels-of-4chan-and-why-are-they-so-angry |title=Who Are the 'Incels' of 4chan, and Why Are They So Angry? |last=Beran |first=Dale |date=May 3, 2018 |work=[Pacific Standard](/source/Pacific_Standard) |access-date=August 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812022039/https://psmag.com/news/who-are-the-incels-of-4chan-and-why-are-they-so-angry |archive-date=August 12, 2018 |url-status=live}} {{anchor|AnchorVariants}}Members of incel communities use many variations of the term "incel" to refer to subgroups within the community, such as "volcels" (voluntary celibate; someone who chooses to forego sexual intercourse), "fakecels" (those who claim to be incel, but in reality have recently had sex or been in a relationship), and "truecels" (true incels; men who have never had any sexual or romantic encounters).{{Cite news |last=O'Haver |first=Hanson |date=February 13, 2017 |title=What Swearing Off Sex Does to Your Brain |work=[Broadly](/source/Broadly) |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/what-abstinence-does-to-your-brain/ |url-status=live |access-date=June 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612141720/https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/j5epex/what-abstinence-does-to-your-brain |archive-date=June 12, 2018}}{{cite news |url=http://dailyhive.com/toronto/incel-rebellion-information-toronto-van-attack |title=What you need to know about 'The Incel Rebellion' |last1=Nolan-Smith |first1=Peter |date=April 24, 2018 |work=[Daily Hive](/source/Daily_Hive) |access-date=June 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612144011/http://dailyhive.com/toronto/incel-rebellion-information-toronto-van-attack |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |url-status=live}} There are a number of race-based variations of the term "incel", which refer to people who believe their race is the reason behind their inability to find a partner, including "currycels" (people of South Asian ancestry) and "ricecels" (those of Chinese or Southeast Asian backgrounds), or collectively, "ethnicels".{{Cite news |last=Jennings |first=Rebecca |date=August 6, 2018 |title=Incels' Obsession With Looks Is Based on Fake Math |work=[Racked](/source/Racked) |url=https://www.racked.com/2018/8/6/17616870/incels-looksmax |url-status=live |access-date=August 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826043900/https://www.racked.com/2018/8/6/17616870/incels-looksmax |archive-date=August 26, 2018}}{{cite web |url=https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/currycels-and-the-unsurprising-racism-of-the-incel-community |title='Currycels' and the Unsurprising Racism of the Incel Community |last=Kesvani |first=Hussein |date=July 9, 2019 |work=[MEL Magazine](/source/MEL_Magazine) |url-status=live |access-date=December 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191227193417/https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/currycels-and-the-unsurprising-racism-of-the-incel-community |archive-date=December 27, 2019}} "Incel" has also come to be used as an insult against people who do not necessarily identify with the subculture, but who are perceived to be sexually inexperienced, undesirable, or unpopular.{{cite web |last1=Orland |first1=Kyle |date=December 17, 2020 |title='Simp,' 'incel' part of newly banned insults on Twitch |url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/12/twitch-will-ban-incel-and-virgin-as-sexual-insults/ |access-date=October 8, 2022 |website=Ars Technica |archive-date=December 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201218014248/https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/12/twitch-will-ban-incel-and-virgin-as-sexual-insults/ |url-status=live}} == Demographics == {{Pie chart | thumb = right | caption = Geographic distribution of incels, according to a 2021 study by Speckhard et al | label1 = [Western Europe](/source/Western_Europe) | value1 = 32.4 | color1 = Blue | label2 = [Northern America](/source/Northern_America) | value2 = 30.9 | color2 = Yellow | label3 = [Eastern Europe](/source/Eastern_Europe) | value3 = 14.3 | color3 = Purple | label4 = [Asia](/source/Asia) | value4 = 9.9 | color4 = Red | label5 = [Central](/source/Central_America) and [South America](/source/South_America) | value5 = 7.7 | color5 = Green | label6 = [Africa](/source/Africa) | value6 = 2.2 | color6 = Orange | label7 = [Oceania](/source/Oceania) | value7 = 2.2 | color7 = LightBlue }} {{Pie chart | thumb = right | caption = Self-described racial and ethnic identities of incels | label1 = [White](/source/White_people)/European | value1 = 53.3 | color1 = Blue | label2 = [Black](/source/Black_people)/[African American](/source/African_American) | value2 = 9.6 | color2 = Yellow | label3 = [Middle Eastern](/source/Middle_Eastern)/[North Africa](/source/North_Africa)n | value3 = 7.0 | color3 = Purple | label4 = [Hispanic](/source/Hispanic) | value4 = 7.0 | color4 = Green | label5 = [East Asian](/source/East_Asian_people) | value5 = 5.1 | color5 = Red | label6 = [Indian](/source/Indian_people) | value6 = 5.1 | color6 = Orange | label7 = Another ethnicity/not sure | value7 = 12.9 | color7 = Gray }} Self-identified incels are mostly male and [heterosexual](/source/heterosexual), and are often described as young and friendless [introverts](/source/introverts).{{Multiref2 | {{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/24/toronto-van-attack-facebook-post-may-link-suspect-with-incel-group |title=Toronto van attack: Facebook post may link suspect to misogynist 'incel' subculture |last1=Wilson |first1=Jason |date=April 25, 2018 |newspaper=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian) |location=London, England |access-date=April 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425010650/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/24/toronto-van-attack-facebook-post-may-link-suspect-with-incel-group |archive-date=April 25, 2018 |url-status=live |ref=none}} | {{Cite news |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/04/toronto-van-incel/558836/ |title=ISIS Tactics Have Spread to Other Violent Actors |last=Wood |first=Graeme |author-link=Graeme Wood (journalist) |date=April 24, 2018 |magazine=[The Atlantic](/source/The_Atlantic) |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=May 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180503180554/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/04/toronto-van-incel/558836/ |archive-date=May 3, 2018 |url-status=live |url-access=limited |ref=none}} | {{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2018/04/25/inside-the-online-world-of-incels-the-dark-corner-of-the-internet-linked-to-the-toronto-suspect |title=Inside the online world of 'incels,' the dark corner of the Internet linked to the Toronto suspect |last1=Ohlheiser |first1=Abby |date=April 25, 2018 |newspaper=The Washington Post |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180518040456/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2018/04/25/inside-the-online-world-of-incels-the-dark-corner-of-the-internet-linked-to-the-toronto-suspect |archive-date=May 18, 2018 |url-status=live |url-access=limited |ref=none}} | {{cite news |url=http://toronto.citynews.ca/2018/04/24/incel-rebellion-van-facebook-post |title='Incel Rebellion has already begun': Expert explains van suspect's cryptic Facebook post |last=Talbot |first=Michael |date=April 24, 2018 |website=[CityNews](/source/CityNews) |publisher=[Rogers Media](/source/Rogers_Media) |location=Toronto, Ontario, Canada |access-date=May 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180529011602/http://toronto.citynews.ca/2018/04/24/incel-rebellion-van-facebook-post |archive-date=May 29, 2018 |url-status=live |ref=none}} | {{cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-april-26-2018-1.4636157/violent-misogyny-found-in-incel-is-a-form-of-terrorism-says-author-1.4636164 |title=Violent misogyny found in 'incel' is a form of terrorism, says author |date=April 26, 2018 |work=[CBC.ca](/source/CBC.ca) |access-date=May 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180531223934/http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-april-26-2018-1.4636157/violent-misogyny-found-in-incel-is-a-form-of-terrorism-says-author-1.4636164 |archive-date=May 31, 2018 |url-status=live |ref=none}} | {{cite news |url=http://www.houstonpress.com/arts/the-myth-that-incels-want-sex-10443838 |title=Incels Want Gender Terrorism, Not Sex |last=Rouner |first=Jef |date=May 3, 2018 |newspaper=[Houston Press](/source/Houston_Press) |location=Houston, Texas |access-date=May 29, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180529202940/http://www.houstonpress.com/arts/the-myth-that-incels-want-sex-10443838 |archive-date=May 29, 2018 |url-status=live |ref=none}} | {{Cite web |url=https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/4/16/18287446/incel-definition-reddit |title=Our incel problem |department=The Highlight |last=Beauchamp |first=Zack |date=April 16, 2019 |website=[Vox](/source/Vox_(website)) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191008003701/https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/4/16/18287446/incel-definition-reddit |archive-date=October 8, 2019 |url-status=live |access-date=April 24, 2019 |url-access=subscription |ref=none}} | {{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/08/reddit-incel-involuntary-celibate-men-ban |title='Incel': Reddit bans misogynist men's group blaming women for their celibacy |last=Solon |first=Olivia |date=November 8, 2017 |newspaper=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108214200/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/08/reddit-incel-involuntary-celibate-men-ban |archive-date=November 8, 2017 |url-status=live |access-date=April 25, 2018 |ref=none}} | {{Cite news |url=https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/gyj3yw/how-reddit-is-teaching-young-men-to-hate-women |title=How Reddit Is Teaching Young Men to Hate Women |last=Kini |first=Aditi Natasha |date=November 15, 2017 |work=[Vice](/source/Vice_(magazine)) |access-date=April 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425040159/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/gyj3yw/how-reddit-is-teaching-young-men-to-hate-women |archive-date=April 25, 2018 |url-status=dead |ref=none}} | {{cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/unmaking-of-an-incel_us_5b11a9aee4b0d5e89e1fb519?guccounter=1 |title=The Unmaking Of An Incel |last1=Jeltsen |first1=Melissa |date=June 7, 2018 |work=[HuffPost](/source/HuffPost) |access-date=June 8, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143406/https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/unmaking-of-an-incel_us_5b11a9aee4b0d5e89e1fb519?guccounter=1 |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |url-status=live |ref=none}} }} Estimates of the size of incel communities during 2018–2020 varied.{{cite news |last1=Turner |first1=Janice |author-link=Janice Turner |date=April 28, 2018 |title=Self-hating 'incel' men are the new jihadists |work=[The Times](/source/The_Times) |url=https://www.thetimes.com/comment/article/self-hating-incel-men-are-the-new-jihadis-5rz37h9s9 |url-status=live |access-date=June 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180606061307/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/self-hating-incel-men-are-the-new-jihadis-5rz37h9s9 |archive-date=June 6, 2018 |url-access=limited}} {{registration required}}{{cite news |url=http://theconversation.com/how-a-masculine-culture-that-favors-sexual-conquests-gave-us-todays-incels-97221 |title=How a masculine culture that favors sexual conquests gave us today's 'incels' |last1=Haenfler |first1=Ross |date=June 6, 2018 |work=[The Conversation](/source/The_Conversation_(website)) |access-date=June 6, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180610123327/http://theconversation.com/how-a-masculine-culture-that-favors-sexual-conquests-gave-us-todays-incels-97221 |archive-date=June 10, 2018 |url-status=live}} It ranged from the thousands, to tens of thousands, to hundreds of thousands.{{Cite web |url=https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/4/16/18287446/incel-definition-reddit |title=Our incel problem |department=The Highlight |last=Beauchamp |first=Zack |date=April 16, 2019 |website=[Vox](/source/Vox_(website)) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191008003701/https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/4/16/18287446/incel-definition-reddit |archive-date=October 8, 2019 |url-status=live |access-date=April 24, 2019 |url-access=subscription}}{{Cite news |last=Williams |first=Zoe |author-link=Zoe Williams (writer) |date=April 25, 2018 |title='Raw hatred': why the 'incel' movement targets and terrorises women |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/25/raw-hatred-why-incel-movement-targets-terrorises-women |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180426014721/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/25/raw-hatred-why-incel-movement-targets-terrorises-women |archive-date=April 26, 2018 |access-date=April 26, 2018 |newspaper=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)}}{{Cite web |date=September 10, 2020 |title=Online Poll Results Provide New Insights into Incel Community |url=https://www.adl.org/blog/online-poll-results-provide-new-insights-into-incel-community |access-date=December 26, 2021 |website=[Anti-Defamation League](/source/Anti-Defamation_League) |archive-date=January 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116200507/https://www.adl.org/blog/online-poll-results-provide-new-insights-into-incel-community |url-status=live}} A statistical analysis of the largest incel forum shows that only a few hundred accounts made up the vast majority of forum posts during all of 2021 and most of 2022. Incel communities are largely made up of [emerging adults](/source/emerging_adults) who feel they have not met their sexual milestones "on time"{{cite journal |last1=Justin |first1=Kyle J |last2=Shepler |first2=Dustin K. |last3=Kinel |first3=Joseph R |date=2022 |title=She's Just Not That Into Me: Sexual Self-Concept Among Heterosexual Men Who Identify as Involuntary Celibates |journal=Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=117–133 |doi=10.5590/JSBHS.2022.16.1.09 |doi-access=free |issn=1948-3260}} according to [gendered dating norms](/source/Dating), resulting in a [gender role conflict](/source/Role_conflict).{{Cite journal |last=Scheuerman |first=Jacob |date=2021 |title=The Anatomy of Inceldom: An Analysis of Incels Through the Lens of Gender |url=https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/themis/vol9/iss1/3 |journal=Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science |volume=9 |issue=1 |doi=10.31979/THEMIS.2021.0903 |issn=2324-6561}} In one study, approximately half of incels surveyed lived with their parents or grandparents, and 17.8% were not in employment, education, or training (NEET). Mainstream news media has often described incels as predominantly [white](/source/White_people).{{sfnp|Gheorghe|2024|p=60|ps=: "Incels are typically portrayed as angry white men in mainstream media; however, a considerable number of incels identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and may not readily identify with the same privileges and experiences allotted to white incels."}} In 2018, sociologist Ross Haenfler was quoted in ''The Washington Post'' describing incels as primarily white.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2018/04/25/inside-the-online-world-of-incels-the-dark-corner-of-the-internet-linked-to-the-toronto-suspect |title=Inside the online world of 'incels,' the dark corner of the Internet linked to the Toronto suspect |last1=Ohlheiser |first1=Abby |date=April 25, 2018 |newspaper=The Washington Post |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180518040456/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2018/04/25/inside-the-online-world-of-incels-the-dark-corner-of-the-internet-linked-to-the-toronto-suspect |archive-date=May 18, 2018 |url-status=live |url-access=limited}} In 2018, Heidi Beirich of the Southern Poverty Law Center told ''[NBC News](/source/NBC_News)'' that incels are "young, frustrated white males in their late teens into their early twenties who are having a hard time adjusting to adulthood". More recent studies have described incel communities as ethnically diverse.{{r|Gheorghe 2024}}{{harvp|Smith|Butler-Warke|Stevens|2025|p=3|ps=: "60,000–100,000 users currently populate incel forums. They are an ethnically diverse community of mostly 18–30-year-old socially inhibited men typically based in economically underprivileged areas."}}{{cite journal |last1=Glace |first1=Alyssa M. |last2=Dover |first2=Tessa L. |last3=Zatkin |first3=Judith G. |title=Taking the black pill: An empirical analysis of the 'Incel' |journal=Psychology of Men & Masculinities |date=2021 |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=288–297 |doi=10.1037/men0000328 |issn=1524-9220}} A 2024 study by Alyssa Maryn and colleagues states, "Recent research suggests that common perceptions that Incels are almost all White are inaccurate".{{cite journal |last1=Maryn |first1=Alyssa |last2=Keough |first2=Jordan |last3=McConnell |first3=Ceilidh |last4=Exner-Cortens |first4=Deinera |title=Identifying Pathways to the Incel Community and Where to Intervene: A Qualitative Study with Former Incels |journal=Sex Roles |date=2024 |volume=90 |issue=7 |pages=910–922 |doi=10.1007/s11199-024-01478-x |doi-access=free |issn=0360-0025}} In June 2019, Sylvia Jaki and colleagues published a [linguistic analysis](/source/linguistic_analysis) of the most popular incel forum, arguing that "contrary to what is often reported", there was no definitive evidence that the group is predominantly white. Hoffman and colleagues, publishing in ''Studies in Conflict & Terrorism'', reported that a March 2020 survey of the same forum determined that 55% of respondents self-identified as Caucasian. Incels who are not white often blame their race for their celibacy, using the acronym "JBW" (Just be white) to sardonically express the perceived advantages white men have in attracting women.{{Cite journal |last=Bachaud |first=Louis |date=January 12, 2024 |title='I'll always be a subhuman, I just lost the genetic lottery': Subaltern Identity-building in Online Incel Discourse and Ideology |journal=Nuevo Mundo Mundos Nuevos |department=Questions du temps présent |doi=10.4000/nuevomundo.95206 |doi-access=free}}{{cite web |last1=Kelly |first1=Megan |last2=DiBranco |first2=Alex |last3=DeCook |first3=Julia R. |title=A Brief Overview of Intersections with Race and Class |url=https://www.newamerica.org/political-reform/reports/misogynist-incels-and-male-supremacism/a-brief-overview-of-intersections-with-race-and-class/ |website=Misogynist Incels and Male Supremacism: Overview and Recommendations for Addressing the Threat of Male Supremacist Violence |publisher=New America |type=report |access-date=August 3, 2025 |location=Washington, D.C. |language=en |date=February 18, 2021}} A 2024 survey of self-identified incels by researchers from the University of Texas found that incels tended to be slightly [center-left](/source/center-left). They were significantly left in questions about homosexuality, corporate profits and welfare benefits.{{cite web |last1=Whittaker |first1=Joe |last2=Costello |first2=William |last3=Thomas |first3=Andrew G. |title=Predicting Harm Among Incels (Involuntary Celibates): The Roles of Mental Health, Ideological Belief and Social Networking |type=report |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/predicting-harm-among-incels-involuntary-celibates/predicting-harm-among-incels-involuntary-celibates-the-roles-of-mental-health-ideological-belief-and-social-networking-accessible |publisher=Commission for Countering Extremism |access-date=August 3, 2025 |date=May 22, 2024 |doi=10.13140/RG.2.2.25268.22405}} In a 2022 study, the University of Texas researchers ran a poll of self-reported incels, which found that 63.58% of those who responded identified as white, a smaller percentage than non-incels in the study. They found that 45% of incels who responded leaned to the left on the [political spectrum](/source/political_spectrum). 17.5% were centrists, and 38.9% leaned to the right, showing no differences between the incel and the control group of the study.{{Cite web |type=press release |title='Incels' are not particularly right-wing or white, but they are extremely depressed, anxious, and lonely, according to new research |url=https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/news/incels-are-not-particularly-right-wing-or-white-but-they-are-extremely-depressed-anxious-and-lonely-according-to-new-research |access-date=July 30, 2025 |publisher=University of Texas at Austin; College of Liberal Arts |date=November 10, 2022 |language=en |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204030731/https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/news/incels-are-not-particularly-right-wing-or-white-but-they-are-extremely-depressed-anxious-and-lonely-according-to-new-research |url-status=live}}{{Cite journal |last1=Costello |first1=William |last2=Rolon |first2=Vania |last3=Thomas |first3=Andrew G. |last4=Schmitt |first4=David |date=2022 |title=Levels of Well-Being Among Men Who Are Incel (Involuntarily Celibate) |journal=Evolutionary Psychological Science |language=en |volume=8 |issue=4 |pages=375–390 |doi=10.1007/s40806-022-00336-x |issn=2198-9885}} A 2025 survey found that incels tended to consider "feminists" and the "political left" at-large to be "enemies" of the incel community.{{Cite journal |last1=Costello |first1=William |last2=Whittaker |first2=Joe |last3=Thomas |first3=Andrew G. |date=2025 |title=The Dual Pathways Hypothesis of Incel Harm: A Model of Harmful Attitudes and Beliefs Among Involuntary Celibates |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |language=en |volume=54 |issue=5 |pages=1815–1836 |doi=10.1007/s10508-025-03161-y |doi-access=free |issn=1573-2800 |pmc=12162687 |pmid=40399639}} {{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=by4|from this source=yes}} Self-identified incels are mainly located in North America and Europe. There are also incel communities for people outside the [Anglosphere](/source/Anglosphere), such as the Italian website {{lang|it|Il Forum dei Brutti}} and the {{lang|ja|モテない男性}} ({{transliteration|ja|motenai dansei}}{{hsp}}) board on the Japanese website [5channel](/source/5channel).{{Cite news |date=April 26, 2018 |title=Chi sono gli Incel, i single che odiano le donne come l'attentatore di Toronto |language=it |trans-title=Who are the Incels, the single people who hate women like the Toronto bomber |work=[Esquire](/source/Esquire_(magazine)) |url=https://www.esquire.com/it/news/a20069389/chi-sono-gli-incel-i-single-che-odiano-le-donne-come-lattentatore-di-toronto |url-status=live |access-date=September 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424004501/https://www.esquire.com/it/news/a20069389/chi-sono-gli-incel-i-single-che-odiano-le-donne-come-lattentatore-di-toronto |archive-date=April 24, 2019}} The English-language forums also receive much traffic from non-Anglophone countries. In 2020, research by the [Swedish Defence Research Agency](/source/Swedish_Defence_Research_Agency) (FOI) on the three largest incel forums found that they had a total of about 20,000 users, with only about 1,000 who post actively. The FOI found that between 4.6 and 7.3% of the visitors to the forums originated from Sweden, though they caution this may not be accurate given the use of personal [VPN](/source/VPN)s.{{cite web |last=Eklund |first=Henning |date=March 4, 2020 |title=Sverige kan vara incel-tätast i världen |url=https://www.gp.se/nyheter/sverige/sverige-kan-vara-incel-t%C3%A4tast-i-v%C3%A4rlden-1.24906869 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127143112/https://www.gp.se/nyheter/sverige/sverige-kan-vara-incel-t%C3%A4tast-i-v%C3%A4rlden-1.24906869 |archive-date=November 27, 2020 |access-date=March 11, 2020 |website=[Göteborgs-Posten](/source/G%C3%B6teborgs-Posten) |language=sv}} It has been found in a paper by Robert C. Brooks et al. that areas with higher male-to-female [sex ratio](/source/Human_sex_ratio)s, fewer single women, higher [income inequality](/source/income_inequality), and lower [gender pay gap](/source/gender_pay_gap)s had higher rates of incel-related activity in [tweets](/source/Tweet_(social_media)).{{Cite web |title=Incel Activity on Social Media Linked to Local Mating Ecology |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/action/cookieAbsent |access-date=2026-05-31 |website=Sage Journals |language=en |doi=10.1177/09567976211036065}} However, research examined in a paper by Miriam Lindner has shown that in terms of violence acts that:{{Cite journal |last=Lindner |first=Miriam |date=2023-09-01 |title=The Sense in Senseless Violence: Male Reproductive Strategy and the Modern Sexual Marketplace as Contributors to Violent Extremism |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s40750-023-00219-w |journal=Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology |language=en |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=217–251 |doi=10.1007/s40750-023-00219-w |issn=2198-7335}}{{Cite web |date=2024-01-18 |title=New research sheds light on incel community’s connection to mass violence |url=https://www.uri.edu/news/2024/01/new-research-sheds-light-on-incel-communitys-connection-to-mass-violence/ |access-date=2026-05-31 |language=en-US}}
For the longest time, there was this misunderstanding that this type of violence could be ascribed to socio-economic standing or educational background, but when we look at the people who commit these very violent acts, it turns out that what they have in common is not that they are male–though 98% of them are male–it is actually that they are extremely [misogynistic](/source/misogynistic).
=== Female incels (femcels) === The first incel website, ''Alana's Involuntary Celibacy Project'', was inclusive of all genders.{{r|Kaiser p17}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/toronto-van-attack-spotlights-extremist-mens-movement/4376624.html |title=Canada Van Attack Spotlights Online Men's Movement |last=Farivar |first=Masood |date=May 3, 2018 |work=[Voice of America](/source/Voice_of_America) |access-date=June 6, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612135949/https://www.voanews.com/a/toronto-van-attack-spotlights-extremist-mens-movement/4376624.html |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |url-status=live}} There have been more contemporary female-specific incel or '''femcel''' communities, such as [r/TruFemcels](/source/r%2FTruFemcels){{cite web |last=Kohn |first=Isabelle |date=February 10, 2020 |title=Inside the World of 'Femcels' |url=https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/femcels-vs-incels-meaning-reddit-discord |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221002903/https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/femcels-vs-incels-meaning-reddit-discord |archive-date=February 21, 2020 |website=[MEL Magazine](/source/MEL_Magazine) |publisher=Dollar Shave Club}} and its successor ''ThePinkPill''.{{Cite web |last=Schofield |first=Daisy |date=March 29, 2021 |title=Inside the online 'safe space' for female incels |url=https://www.huckmag.com/art-and-culture/tech/inside-the-online-safe-space-for-femcels |access-date=December 8, 2021 |website=[Huck](/source/Huck_(magazine)) |archive-date=December 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207234559/https://www.huckmag.com/art-and-culture/tech/inside-the-online-safe-space-for-femcels/ |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last=Aronowitz |first=Nona Willis |date=September 1, 2021 |title=The Femcel Revolution |work=[Elle](/source/Elle_(magazine)) |url=https://www.elle.com/life-love/sex-relationships/a37288143/0168-0169-the-femcel-revolution-september-2021 |access-date=December 13, 2021 |archive-date=December 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211204002010/https://www.elle.com/life-love/sex-relationships/a37288143/0168-0169-the-femcel-revolution-september-2021/ |url-status=live}} {{As of|2020|2}}, the most popular female incel forum was the r/TruFemcels subreddit, with over 22,000 members.{{r|Kohn 2020}} It was banned in January 2021 for violating Reddit's rules against promoting hate.{{r|Aronowitz 2021|Schofield 2021}} Another subreddit reportedly associated with self-identified female incels is r/Vindicta, which contains beauty advice.{{Cite news |last=Cortés |first=Michelle Santiago |date=April 14, 2022 |title=In the Pursuit of Hotness: How one sub-Reddit community is defining our beauty standards — and then striving for them at all costs. |work=The Cut |publisher=[New York](/source/New_York_(magazine)) |url=https://www.thecut.com/2022/04/how-to-be-hot-subreddit.html |access-date=June 3, 2022 |archive-date=May 13, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513100003/https://www.thecut.com/2022/04/how-to-be-hot-subreddit.html |url-status=live}} There are hashtags pertaining to the idea of female incels in use on [TikTok](/source/TikTok), such as #femcel, #femcelcore and #femcelrights, which as of 2022, have over 250 million views.{{Cite web |last=Colombo |first=Charlotte |date=March 20, 2022 |title=2022 is the year of the 'femcel' – what you need to know |url=https://metro.co.uk/2022/03/20/2022-is-the-year-of-the-femcel-what-you-need-to-know-16308546/ |access-date=June 24, 2023 |website=Metro |language=en |archive-date=June 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624032357/https://metro.co.uk/2022/03/20/2022-is-the-year-of-the-femcel-what-you-need-to-know-16308546/ |url-status=live}} There are reported to be tens of thousands of women self-identifying as female incels on the internet.{{r|Kohn 2020}} There is disagreement in online incel communities on whether women can be incels, with some claiming that male incels grossly outnumber female incels,{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/09/reddit-bans-message-board-men-blame-women-celibacy |title=Reddit bans message board where men blame women for their celibacy |last=Horton |first=Helena |date=November 9, 2017 |work=The Daily Telegraph |issn=0307-1235 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180524031529/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/09/reddit-bans-message-board-men-blame-women-celibacy |archive-date=May 24, 2018 |url-status=live |url-access=limited}} others claiming that it is impossible for women to be incels at all,{{Cite news |last=Serrano |first=Beatriz |date=May 16, 2022 |title=Femcels: The 'involuntarily celibate' women who say they are barred from sex and romance |work=[El País](/source/El_Pa%C3%ADs) English Edition |url=https://english.elpais.com/society/2022-05-17/femcels-the-involuntarily-celibate-women-who-say-they-are-barred-from-sex-and-romance.html |access-date=June 1, 2022 |archive-date=May 13, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513095933/https://english.elpais.com/society/2022-05-17/femcels-the-involuntarily-celibate-women-who-say-they-are-barred-from-sex-and-romance.html |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last=Hullander |first=Megan |date=December 17, 2021 |title=Inside the incelosphere, where the lonely get lonelier |work=[Document Journal](/source/Document_Journal) |url=https://www.documentjournal.com/2021/12/inside-the-incelosphere-where-the-lonely-get-lonelier |access-date=June 3, 2022 |quote=IncelWiki's "femcel" page, which, along with the vocal majority of incels, largely denies the notion that women can be incels, states that "it is generally accepted that involuntarily celibate women don't exist." |archive-date=August 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818174510/https://www.documentjournal.com/2021/12/inside-the-incelosphere-where-the-lonely-get-lonelier/ |url-status=live}} others claiming that only "severely [deformed](/source/Deformity)" women can be incels,{{cite news |last1=Jennings |first1=Rebecca |title=Incels Categorize Women by Personal Style and Attractiveness |url=https://www.vox.com/2018/4/28/17290256/incel-chad-stacy-becky |access-date=December 26, 2024 |work=Vox |date=April 28, 2018 |url-access=subscription}} and others arguing that only unattractive women belonging to the "bottom percentile in terms of appearance" can be incels.{{cite news |url=https://splinternews.com/unfuckable-women-dont-go-on-killing-sprees-1825746733 |title='Unfuckable' Women Don't Go on Killing Sprees |last1=Alptraum |first1=Lux |date=May 3, 2018 |work=[Splinter News](/source/Splinter_News) |access-date=May 23, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180505014929/https://splinternews.com/unfuckable-women-dont-go-on-killing-sprees-1825746733 |archive-date=May 5, 2018 |url-status=live}} Members of male incel communities often reject the concept of a female incel, believing that all women can obtain sex from men, and believing that self-identified female incels that are being truthful about their celibacy are voluntarily celibate, rather than involuntarily. Members of male incel communities may also troll female incels. The [Anti-Defamation League](/source/Anti-Defamation_League) reported in 2020 that the majority of incels do not believe that women can be incels. Journalists have written that outside of the female incels' own communities, few believe women can be incels. In 2021, M. Kelly wrote for Political Research Associates that members of incel communities point to the existence of female incels as an argument against criticisms of them as misogynist, but that most incel communities do not accept them and ban them from using their forums. Like members of male incel communities, female incel community members tend to believe that they are victims to their ugliness and think that only unattractive men will date them. They call more attractive looking women "Stacys", who they believe decrease their chance of having sexual contact with men, similar to discussion of "Chads" in male incel forums. They have adopted the idea of the "pink pill", which has been likened to "red pill" and "black pill" terminology, and which describes a belief that some women are considered undesirable and thus are unable to engage in sexual relationships due to society's focus on certain aspects of female attractiveness. Some women identifying as incels believe they could have [casual sex](/source/casual_sex), but fear it could only be with men who would abuse or disrespect them.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/19/why-only-care-incels-men-involuntary-celibacy |title=Why do we only care about incels when they are men? |last=Mahdawi |first=Arwa |date=February 19, 2020 |website=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian) |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303072403/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/19/why-only-care-incels-men-involuntary-celibacy |archive-date=March 3, 2020 |access-date=March 3, 2020}}{{cite web |url=https://www.huckmag.com/art-and-culture/tech/meet-the-women-of-the-incel-movement |title=Meet the women of the incel movement |last=Chester |first=Nick |date=December 5, 2019 |website=[Huck](/source/Huck_(magazine)) |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200107174909/https://www.huckmag.com/art-and-culture/tech/meet-the-women-of-the-incel-movement |archive-date=January 7, 2020 |access-date=March 3, 2020}} Within online female incel communities, misogyny and an impossible [feminine beauty ideal](/source/feminine_beauty_ideal) are also perceived as reasons for female celibacy.{{Cite web |last=Cernik |first=Lizzie |date=October 18, 2021 |title='I feel hurt that my life has ended up here': The women who are involuntary celibates |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/oct/18/i-feel-hurt-that-my-life-has-ended-up-here-the-women-who-are-involuntary-celibates |access-date=November 14, 2021 |website=The Guardian |archive-date=November 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211113180027/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/oct/18/i-feel-hurt-that-my-life-has-ended-up-here-the-women-who-are-involuntary-celibates |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last=Samuelson |first=Kate |date=October 21, 2021 |title=What are femcels? |work=[The Week](/source/The_Week) |url=https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/society/954515/what-are-femcels |access-date=December 13, 2021 |archive-date=May 13, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513095933/https://theweek.com/news/society/954515/what-are-femcels |url-status=live}} Other women may share similar concerns, but do not self-identify as female incels. Some female incel communities have been critical of [body positivity](/source/body_positivity) and mainstream feminism, viewing them as unhelpful to female incels. In 2022 a former member of the r/TruFemcels community was quoted in ''[The Atlantic](/source/The_Atlantic)'' saying, "I'd rather be able to talk about being ugly than just try to convince myself that I'm pretty".{{Cite news |last=Tiffany |first=Kaitlyn |date=May 12, 2022 |title=What Do Female Incels Really Want? |work=The Atlantic |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/05/femcel-meaning-female-incel-reddit/629836 |access-date=May 12, 2022 |archive-date=May 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512111251/https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/05/femcel-meaning-female-incel-reddit/629836/ |url-status=live |url-access=limited}} In 2022, an expert in psychology interviewed by ''[El País](/source/El_Pa%C3%ADs)'' characterized female incel communities as overly insular and skeptical of outsiders (who are deemed "normies"), in what she described as "cognitive inflexibility". She stated that, "US culture is less sociable. In Spain, [female incels] would have completely different characteristics... I don't think it would have the same number of followers, to begin with, because in Spain we are more encouraging of interpersonal relationships, and the development of social skills." Women who identify as incels share some similarities with their male counterparts, such as belief that physical appearance is the most important factor in finding a partner. In other ways they tend to be different. Members of female incel communities are more likely to self-blame rather than blaming men for their dating and sexual difficulties. This may be due to gender stereotypes, such as the belief that women do not have a "natural" need for sex. Journalist Isabelle Kohn wrote in 2020 that, rather than being angry at the men who reject them, they empathize with the men for not wanting to date them. Kohn notes the tendency for women identifying as incels to turn their rage inwards, rather than outwards like males. Female incel communities are generally overlooked within academic literature about incels. In 2020, journalist Arwa Mahdawi hypothesized that the fact that females who identify as incels do not go on violent rampages like some of their male counterparts is the most obvious reason why they have not received much attention in mainstream media. In February 2020, Kohn wrote that she could find "mountains" of academic papers on male incels, but none on female incels. She says the assumption that female incels do not exist adds to their pain. In 2024, an article in ''[Archives of Sexual Behavior](/source/Archives_of_Sexual_Behavior)'' stated that "there has been almost no research on femcel communities or what the women who join them have to say."{{sfnp|Evans|Lankford|2024|pp=917, 927}} == Mental health == {{See also|Mental disorders and gender}} "Involuntary celibacy" is not a medical or psychological condition. Some people who identify as incel have physical disabilities or psychological disorders such as [depression](/source/Major_depressive_disorder), [anxiety](/source/anxiety), [autism](/source/autism), and [body dysmorphic disorder](/source/body_dysmorphic_disorder). A 2022 study found that self-identified incels reported higher rates of depression, anxiety, and formal mental diagnoses than the general population: 95% reported depression and 93% reported anxiety. 38% had clinical diagnoses.{{Cite journal |last1=Sparks |first1=Brandon |last2=Zidenberg |first2=Alexandra M. |last3=Olver |first3=Mark E. |date=2022 |title=Involuntary Celibacy: A Review of Incel Ideology and Experiences with Dating, Rejection, and Associated Mental Health and Emotional Sequelae |journal=Current Psychiatry Reports |language=en |volume=24 |issue=12 |page=734 |doi=10.1007/s11920-022-01382-9 |doi-access=free |issn=1535-1645 |pmc=9780135 |pmid=36394688}} {{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=by4|from this source=yes}} Some posters to incel forums attribute their inability to find a partner to physical or mental ailments, while some others attribute it to extreme introversion. Many of those identifying as incels engage in [self-diagnosis](/source/self-diagnosis) of mental health issues. Members of incel communities often discourage posters who post about mental illness from seeing [therapists](/source/therapists) or otherwise seeking treatment.{{Cite news |url=https://www.vox.com/2018/6/20/17314846/incel-support-group-therapy-black-pill-mental-health |title=What a woman-led incel support group can teach us about men and mental health |last=Romano |first=Aja |date=June 20, 2018 |work=[Vox](/source/Vox_(website)) |access-date=August 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812052926/https://www.vox.com/2018/6/20/17314846/incel-support-group-therapy-black-pill-mental-health |archive-date=August 12, 2018 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-to-help-an-incel-sex-therapist/ |title=We Asked a Sex Therapist What It's Like to Help An Incel Get Laid |last=Conti |first=Allie |date=May 11, 2018 |work=[Vice](/source/Vice_(magazine)) |access-date=August 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812054945/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/435g9p/how-to-help-an-incel-sex-therapist |archive-date=August 12, 2018 |url-status=live}} Some members of incel communities with severe depression are also suicidal. Some members encourage suicidal members to kill themselves, sometimes recommending that they commit acts of mass violence before doing so. Some report [sexual guilt](/source/sexual_guilt) and [shame](/source/shame) due to involuntary celibacy.{{cite journal |last=Andersen |first=Jan Christoffer |title=To Alleviate Stigma: How Incels Negotiate Masculinity Online |journal=Men and Masculinities |volume=27 |issue=5 |date=2024 |issn=1097-184X |doi=10.1177/1097184X241285447 |doi-access=free |pages=472–491}} {{cc-notice|cc=by4|from this source=yes}} == Mass murders and violence == Mass murders and other violent attacks have been committed or are suspected to have been committed by men who have self-identified as involuntarily celibate, or whose statements align with incel ideologies. Other intended attacks by such individuals have been thwarted by police before being carried out. === 2000s === On August 4, 2009, George Sodini [opened fire](/source/2009_Collier_Township_shooting) at an [LA Fitness](/source/LA_Fitness) health club in [Collier Township](/source/Collier_Township), a suburb of [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania](/source/Pittsburgh%2C_Pennsylvania). Three women were murdered and nine other people were injured before Sodini killed himself.{{cite news |date=August 4, 2009 |title='Hell-Bent' Shooter Used 3 Guns In LA Fitness Rampage |publisher=[WTAE-TV](/source/WTAE-TV) |url=http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/20283352/detail.html |url-status=dead |access-date=May 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091209051411/http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/20283352/detail.html |archive-date=December 9, 2009}}{{cite news |last1=Hasch |first1=Michael |last2=Conte |first2=Andrew |date=August 5, 2009 |title=Gunman kills 3, wounds 9, before killing self at Collier fitness club |work=[Pittsburgh Tribune-Review](/source/Pittsburgh_Tribune-Review) |publisher=Tribune-Review Publishing Company |url=http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/multimedia/s_636758.html |url-status=dead |access-date=May 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090808064502/http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/multimedia/s_636758.html |archive-date=August 8, 2009}} He purportedly expressed [sexual frustration](/source/sexual_frustration) and complained of constant rejections by women on a website registered in his name.{{cite news |last=Tatton |first=Abbi |date=August 7, 2009 |title=Pennsylvania gym shooter described as quiet, studious |publisher=[CNN](/source/CNN) |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/08/07/pennsylvania.gym.shooting/index.html |url-status=live |access-date=May 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100405212031/http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/08/07/pennsylvania.gym.shooting/index.html |archive-date=April 5, 2010}} Sodini and his actions have been embraced and glorified by some members of incel communities, who sometimes refer to incel violence as "going Sodini".{{Cite web |last1=Ansari |first1=Talal |last2=Lange |first2=Ariane |date=November 5, 2018 |title=Nearly 10 Years Apart, Attacks On Women Have Eerie Similarities |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/talalansari/la-fitness-tallahassee-yoga-shooter-incels-misogyny |access-date=July 22, 2021 |website=[BuzzFeed News](/source/BuzzFeed_News) |archive-date=July 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210722174907/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/talalansari/la-fitness-tallahassee-yoga-shooter-incels-misogyny |url-status=live}} === 2010s === On May 23, 2014, [Elliot Rodger](/source/Elliot_Rodger) [killed six people and injured fourteen others](/source/2014_Isla_Vista_killings) before killing himself in [Isla Vista, California](/source/Isla_Vista%2C_California), near the campus of [University of California, Santa Barbara](/source/University_of_California%2C_Santa_Barbara). These killings drew media attention to the concept of involuntary celibacy, and particularly the misogyny and glorification of violence that are a mainstay of many incel communities. Rodger self-identified as an incel and left behind a 137-page [manifesto](/source/manifesto) and [YouTube](/source/YouTube) videos in which he detailed his involuntary celibacy and discussed how he wanted revenge for being rejected by women.{{Cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2014/05/24/the-disturbing-internet-footprint-of-santa-barbara-shooter-elliot-rodger/ |title=The Disturbing Internet Footprint Of Santa Barbara Shooter Elliot Rodger |last=Hill |first=Kashmir |date=May 24, 2014 |work=[Forbes](/source/Forbes) |access-date=April 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180426081023/https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2014/05/24/the-disturbing-internet-footprint-of-santa-barbara-shooter-elliot-rodger/ |archive-date=April 26, 2018 |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last1=Nagourney |first1=Adam |author-link=Adam Nagourney |last2=Cieply |first2=Michael |author-link2=Michael Cieply |last3=Feuer |first3=Alan |last4=Lovett |first4=Ian |date=June 1, 2014 |title=Before Brief, Deadly Spree, Trouble Since Age 8 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/02/us/elliot-rodger-killings-in-california-followed-years-of-withdrawal.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140603000541/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/02/us/elliot-rodger-killings-in-california-followed-years-of-withdrawal.html |archive-date=June 3, 2014 |issn=0362-4331 |url-access=limited}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/30/elliot-rodger-puahate-forever-alone-reddit-forums |title='PUAhate' and 'ForeverAlone': inside Elliot Rodger's online life |last=Woolf |first=Nicky |date=May 30, 2014 |newspaper=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425162908/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/30/elliot-rodger-puahate-forever-alone-reddit-forums |archive-date=April 25, 2018 |url-status=live}} He had been an active member of a community popular among incels called PUAHate (short for "pickup artist hate"), and referenced it several times in his manifesto.{{r|Woolf 2014}}{{Cite book |last1=Hermansson |first1=Patrik |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=43fNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT137 |title=The International Alt-Right: Fascism for the 21st Century? |last2=Lawrence |first2=David |last3=Mulhall |first3=Joe |last4=Murdoch |first4=Simon |publisher=Routledge |year=2020 |isbn=978-0-429-62709-5 |location=Abingdon, Oxon |pages=137 |oclc=1139373651 |access-date=December 13, 2021 |archive-date=January 31, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240131142412/https://books.google.com/books?id=43fNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT137#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.mediaite.com/online/what-is-puahate-a-look-into-elliot-rodgers-anti-pickup-artist-hangout/ |title=What Is Puahate? Elliot Rodger |last=Wilstein |first=Matt |date=May 26, 2014 |website=[Mediaite](/source/Mediaite) |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200304015924/https://www.mediaite.com/online/what-is-puahate-a-look-into-elliot-rodgers-anti-pickup-artist-hangout/ |archive-date=March 4, 2020 |access-date=March 4, 2020}} Although PUAHate shut down soon after the attack, Rodger became something of a [martyr](/source/martyr) to some communities that remained, and to some of those that emerged later.{{cite web |last1=Janik |first1=Rachel |title='I laugh at the death of normies': How incels are celebrating the Toronto mass killing |url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/04/24/i-laugh-death-normies-how-incels-are-celebrating-toronto-mass-killing |date=April 24, 2018 |website=Hatewatch |publisher=[Southern Poverty Law Center](/source/Southern_Poverty_Law_Center) |access-date=April 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425050544/https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/04/24/i-laugh-death-normies-how-incels-are-celebrating-toronto-mass-killing |archive-date=April 25, 2018 |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |url=http://www.newsweek.com/elliot-rodger-toronto-alek-minassian-van-attack-hunger-games-peter-rodger-899955 |title=Elliot Rodger's father 'very sad' Toronto van suspect Alek Minassian referenced son |last=Fearnow |first=Benjamin |date=April 24, 2018 |work=[Newsweek](/source/Newsweek) |access-date=April 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425000440/http://www.newsweek.com/elliot-rodger-toronto-alek-minassian-van-attack-hunger-games-peter-rodger-899955 |archive-date=April 25, 2018 |url-status=live}} It is common to see references to "E.R." in incel forums, and mass violence by incels is regularly referred to as "going E.R.". Rodger has been referenced by the perpetrators or suspected perpetrators of several other mass killings, and is one of several attackers who are regularly praised by members of incel communities. On October 1, 2015, Chris Harper-Mercer killed nine people and injured eight others before killing himself in a [shooting at the Umpqua Community College](/source/2015_Umpqua_Community_College_shooting) campus, in [Roseburg, Oregon](/source/Roseburg%2C_Oregon). He left a manifesto at the scene, outlining his interest in other mass murders including the Isla Vista killings, his anger at not having a girlfriend, and his animus towards the world. In his journal writings, he had related to Elliot Rodger and other mass shooters, describing them as "people who stand with the gods". Before the attack, when someone on an online message board had speculated Harper-Mercer was "saving himself for someone special", Harper-Mercer had replied: 'involuntarily so".{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/03/us/chris-harper-mercer-umpqua-community-college-shooting.html |title=Oregon Killer Described as Man of Few Words, Except on Topic of Guns |last1=Healy |first1=Jack |date=October 2, 2015 |work=The New York Times |last2=Lovett |first2=Ian |issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409232214/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/03/us/chris-harper-mercer-umpqua-community-college-shooting.html |archive-date=April 9, 2018 |url-status=live |url-access=limited}}{{Cite book |last=Nagle |first=Angela |title=Kill All Normies: Online Culture Wars From 4Chan And Tumblr To Trump And The Alt-Right |year=2017 |publisher=John Hunt Publishing |isbn=978-1-78535-544-8 |author-link=Angela Nagle}}{{Page needed|date=December 2021}}{{Cite news |last1=Shapiro |first1=T. Rees |last2=Dewey |first2=Caitlin |author-link2=Caitlin Dewey Rainwater |last3=Bernstein |first3=Lenny |date=October 2, 2015 |title=Probe in college slayings peers into Web rants and possible religious rage |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/probe-in-college-slayings-peers-into-web-rants-and-possible-religious-rage/2015/10/02/d250007a-68ea-11e5-8325-a42b5a459b1e_story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180504155739/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/probe-in-college-slayings-peers-into-web-rants-and-possible-religious-rage/2015/10/02/d250007a-68ea-11e5-8325-a42b5a459b1e_story.html |archive-date=May 4, 2018 |issn=0190-8286 |url-access=limited}} Several hours before the shooting, someone suspected to be Harper-Mercer posted a threat to a [Pacific Northwest](/source/Pacific_Northwest) college to /r9k/, a 4chan board with many incel posters.{{Cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/4chan-oregon-shooting-anonymous-warning-1.3262686 |title=Warning posted to anonymous forum 4chan before Oregon shooting |last=Bowman |first=John |date=October 8, 2015 |work=[CBC.ca](/source/CBC.ca) |access-date=May 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126042129/http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/4chan-oregon-shooting-anonymous-warning-1.3262686 |archive-date=January 26, 2018 |url-status=live}} On July 31, 2016, Sheldon Bentley robbed and killed an unconscious man in an alleyway in [Edmonton](/source/Edmonton), Alberta. During his trial, Bentley said he killed the man by stomping on his abdomen because he was frustrated with stress from his job as a security guard and with being an incel for four years.{{Cite news |last=Theobald |first=Claire |date=August 30, 2018 |title=Security guard who stomped man to death blames involuntary celibacy |work=[StarMetro](/source/StarMetro_(newspaper)) Edmonton |url=https://www.thestar.com/edmonton/2018/08/29/security-guard-who-stomped-man-to-death-blames-involuntary-celibacy-sentenced-to-four-years.html |url-status=live |access-date=August 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830063333/https://www.thestar.com/edmonton/2018/08/29/security-guard-who-stomped-man-to-death-blames-involuntary-celibacy-sentenced-to-four-years.html |archive-date=August 30, 2018}}{{Cite news |url=https://edmontonjournal.com/news/crime/security-guard-who-kicked-man-to-death-says-he-was-involuntarily-celibate |title=Security guard who kicked man to death says he was 'involuntarily celibate' |last=Parsons |first=Paige |date=August 29, 2018 |work=[Edmonton Journal](/source/Edmonton_Journal) |access-date=August 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830234835/https://edmontonjournal.com/news/crime/security-guard-who-kicked-man-to-death-says-he-was-involuntarily-celibate |archive-date=August 30, 2018 |url-status=live}} On December 7, 2017, William Atchison killed two people before killing himself, in [Aztec, New Mexico](/source/Aztec%2C_New_Mexico), in a [shooting at Aztec High School](/source/2017_Aztec_High_School_shooting), where he had previously been a student. He had used the pseudonym "Elliot Rodger" on several online forums and praised "the supreme gentleman" (a term Rodger had used to describe himself, which has since become a common reference among incel communities).{{Cite news |url=https://www.splcenter.org/20180205/alt-right-killing-people |title=The Alt-Right is Killing People |last1=Hankes |first1=Keegan |date=February 5, 2018 |work=Southern Poverty Law Center |access-date=May 14, 2018 |last2=Amend |first2=Alex |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180511234711/https://www.splcenter.org/20180205/alt-right-killing-people |archive-date=May 11, 2018 |url-status=live}} Atchison had also posted far-right content online. On February 14, 2018, [Nikolas Cruz](/source/Nikolas_Cruz) killed seventeen people and injured seventeen others, in a [shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School](/source/Stoneman_Douglas_High_School_shooting) in [Parkland, Florida](/source/Parkland%2C_Florida). Allegedly also motivated by other extremist views, Cruz had allegedly previously posted online that "Elliot Rodger will not be forgotten".{{Cite web |last1=McLaughlin |first1=Eliott C. |last2=Park |first2=Madison |date=February 16, 2018 |title=Social media paints picture of racist 'professional school shooter' |url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/14/us/nikolas-cruz-florida-shooting-suspect/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724033900/https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/14/us/nikolas-cruz-florida-shooting-suspect/index.html |archive-date=July 24, 2020 |access-date=August 1, 2020 |publisher=[CNN](/source/CNN)}} After an April 23, 2018 [vehicle-ramming attack in Toronto, Ontario](/source/Toronto_van_attack), Alek Minassian was convicted of 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder. Shortly before the attack, Minassian had allegedly posted on [Facebook](/source/Facebook) that "the Incel Rebellion has already begun" and applauded Rodger.{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44072689 |title=Toronto van attack suspect faces more attempted murder charges |date=May 10, 2018 |work=BBC News |access-date=May 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180513112842/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44072689 |archive-date=May 13, 2018 |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |url=https://thehill.com/policy/technology/384610-toronto-rampage-suspect-referenced-extremist-mens-movement-on-facebook/ |title=Toronto rampage suspect referenced extremist male 'incel' movement |last=Bowden |first=John |date=April 24, 2018 |work=[The Hill](/source/The_Hill_(newspaper)) |access-date=April 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425115357/http://thehill.com/policy/technology/384610-toronto-rampage-suspect-referenced-extremist-mens-movement-on-facebook |archive-date=April 25, 2018 |url-status=live}} The term "Incel Rebellion" is sometimes used interchangeably with the term "[Beta](/source/Beta_male_(slang)) Uprising", which refers to a violent response to incels' perceived sexual deprivation. Following the attack, a poster on a website created to supersede r/incels wrote about Minassian, "I hope this guy wrote a manifesto because he could be our next new saint". Following the attack, police claimed that Minassian had been radicalized by incel communities. A video interview was released in {{nowrap|September 2019}} showing Minassian being interrogated by police shortly after the attacks. In the video, Minassian is shown telling police that he was a virgin, and that he was motivated by a resentment of "Chads and Stacys", as well as women who gave "their love and affection to obnoxious brutes" rather than to him. The video also showed Minassian saying that he hoped the alleged attack would "inspire future masses to join me" in committing acts of violence as a part of the "Beta Uprising".{{Cite magazine |title=How the Toronto Van Attack Suspect Was Radicalized by Incels |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/alek-minassian-toronto-van-attack-incels-891678/ |last=Dickson |first=E. J. |date=September 27, 2019 |magazine=[Rolling Stone](/source/Rolling_Stone) |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191208000852/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/alek-minassian-toronto-van-attack-incels-891678/ |archive-date=December 8, 2019 |access-date=May 24, 2020}} The judge who found Minassian guilty on all counts wrote in her decision that Minassian had attempted to tie his attack to the incel community as a way of increasing his notoriety, and that "working out his exact motivation for this attack is{{nbsp}}... close to impossible". She found that Minassian had "lie[d] to the police about much of the incel motivation he talked about and that the incel movement was not in fact a primary driving force behind the attack".{{Cite web |last1=Rozdilsky |first1=Jack L. |last2=Snowden |first2=Edward |date=March 4, 2021 |title=Toronto van attack: Guilty verdict, but Canada still needs to tackle ideological violence |url=http://theconversation.com/toronto-van-attack-guilty-verdict-but-canada-still-needs-to-tackle-ideological-violence-156452 |access-date=March 19, 2021 |website=[The Conversation](/source/The_Conversation_(website)) |archive-date=March 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310002647/https://theconversation.com/toronto-van-attack-guilty-verdict-but-canada-still-needs-to-tackle-ideological-violence-156452 |url-status=live}} On November 2, 2018, Scott Beierle killed two women and injured four women and a man before killing himself in a [shooting at the Hot Yoga Tallahassee studio](/source/2018_Tallahassee_shooting) in [Tallahassee, Florida](/source/Tallahassee%2C_Florida). He had been a follower of incel ideologies for a long time, and had a history of arrests for grabbing women's buttocks.{{Cite news |last=Burlew |first=Jeff |date=November 3, 2018 |title=Scott Beierle, gunman in Tallahassee yoga studio shooting, remembered as 'really creepy' |work=[Tallahassee Democrat](/source/Tallahassee_Democrat) |url=https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2018/11/03/gunman-had-history-arrests-grabbing-women/1871941002/ |url-status=live |access-date=November 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181104003958/https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2018/11/03/gunman-had-history-arrests-grabbing-women/1871941002/ |archive-date=November 4, 2018}} In 2014, he posted several YouTube videos of himself espousing extreme hatred for women and expressing anger over not having a girlfriend, mentioning Elliot Rodger in one video. In the months leading up to the shooting, he posted numerous misogynistic, racist, violent, and homophobic songs to [SoundCloud](/source/SoundCloud).{{Cite news |last1=Mack |first1=David |last2=Jamieson |first2=Amber |last3=Reinstein |first3=Julia |date=November 3, 2018 |title=Tallahassee Yoga Shooter Was A Far-Right Misogynist Who Railed Against Women And Minorities Online |work=[BuzzFeed](/source/BuzzFeed) |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/tallahassee-yoga-shooter-incel-far-right-misogyny-video |url-status=live |access-date=November 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181104001311/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/tallahassee-yoga-shooter-incel-far-right-misogyny-video |archive-date=November 4, 2018}}{{cite web |title=How mass shooters practice their hate online |url=https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/10/31/18039294/scott-beierle-tallahassee-shooting-pittsburgh-gab |last=North |first=Anna |author-link=Anna North |date=November 3, 2018 |website=[Vox](/source/Vox_(website)) |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181104035140/https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/10/31/18039294/scott-beierle-tallahassee-shooting-pittsburgh-gab |archive-date=November 4, 2018 |access-date=November 4, 2018 |url-access=subscription}} In January 2019, Christopher Cleary was arrested for posting on Facebook that he was "planning on shooting up a public place soon and being the next mass shooter" and "killing as many girls as I see" because he had never had a girlfriend and was a virgin. He has been described as an incel in the media.{{Cite news |last=Bever |first=Lindsey |date=January 22, 2019 |title=A man cited his virginity as reason he planned to kill 'as many girls' as he could, police say |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/crime-law/2019/01/22/man-cited-his-virginity-reason-he-planned-kill-many-girls-he-could-police-say/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123024745/https://www.washingtonpost.com/crime-law/2019/01/22/man-cited-his-virginity-reason-he-planned-kill-many-girls-he-could-police-say/ |archive-date=January 23, 2019 |url-access=limited}}{{Cite news |last=Jeltsen |first=Melissa |date=January 23, 2019 |title=Man Arrested For Threatening To Kill 'As Many Girls As I See' On Day Of Women's March |work=[HuffPost](/source/HuffPost) |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/man-arrested-for-threatening-to-kill-as-many-girls-as-i-see-on-day-of-womens-march_us_5c4887f7e4b025aa26bf24cf |url-status=live |access-date=January 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190124012953/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/man-arrested-for-threatening-to-kill-as-many-girls-as-i-see-on-day-of-womens-march_us_5c4887f7e4b025aa26bf24cf |archive-date=January 24, 2019}}{{cite news |last=Giordano |first=Chiara |date=January 23, 2019 |title=Virgin threatened to 'kill as many girls as I see' because he couldn't get a girlfriend |website=[The Independent](/source/The_Independent) |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/christopher-cleary-arrested-virgin-girlfriend-facebook-post-incel-denver-utah-a8742156.html |url-status=live |access-date=January 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190124070008/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/christopher-cleary-arrested-virgin-girlfriend-facebook-post-incel-denver-utah-a8742156.html |archive-date=January 24, 2019}} In May 2019, Cleary was sentenced to up to five years in prison for an attempted threat of terrorism.{{Cite news |title=He pledged to kill 'as many girls as I see' in mass shooting. After second chances, he's going to prison. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/crime-law/2019/05/24/he-pledged-kill-many-girls-i-see-mass-shooting-after-second-chances-hes-going-prison/ |last=Donovan-Smith |first=Orion |date=May 24, 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200517000108/https://www.washingtonpost.com/crime-law/2019/05/24/he-pledged-kill-many-girls-i-see-mass-shooting-after-second-chances-hes-going-prison/ |archive-date=May 17, 2020 |url-access=limited}} On June 17, 2019, Brian Isaack Clyde began what was [intended to be a mass shooting](/source/2019_Dallas_courthouse_shooting) at the [Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse](/source/Earle_Cabell_Federal_Building_and_Courthouse) in [Dallas, Texas](/source/Dallas%2C_Texas). He was shot and fatally wounded by officers from the [Federal Protective Service](/source/Federal_Protective_Service_(United_States)) before he injured anyone. Clyde had shared incel memes on social media, along with other posts referencing right-wing beliefs and [conspiracy theories](/source/conspiracy_theories).{{cite news |last1=Solomon |first1=Dan |date=June 20, 2019 |title=How Did the Dallas Courthouse Gunman Get Radicalized? |work=[Texas Monthly](/source/Texas_Monthly) |url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/dallas-courthouse-shooter-brian-clyde-radicalized/ |url-status=live |access-date=June 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621155745/https://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/dallas-courthouse-shooter-brian-clyde-radicalized/ |archive-date=June 21, 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Martelle |first1=Scott |date=June 18, 2009 |title=A Thwarted Dallas Shooting goes Viral |work=[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times) |url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/enterthefray/la-ol-dallas-gunman-brian-isaack-clyde-video-federal-building-20190618-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=June 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626053031/https://www.latimes.com/opinion/enterthefray/la-ol-dallas-gunman-brian-isaack-clyde-video-federal-building-20190618-story.html |archive-date=June 26, 2019 |url-access=limited}} Following the incident, the [Joint Base Andrews](/source/Joint_Base_Andrews) military base briefed its personnel on certain online behaviors among "introverted, sexless individuals", with a spokesman describing them as "a very real threat to military members and civilians".{{cite news |last1=Brumfeild |first1=Loyd |date=June 22, 2019 |title=Inspired by Dallas courthouse shooter, Air Force base circulates 'incel' warning signs |work=[The Dallas Morning News](/source/The_Dallas_Morning_News) |url=https://www.dallasnews.com/news/dallas/2019/06/22/air-force-base-prompted-dallas-courthouse-shooter-educates-personnel-recognizing-incel-warning-signs |url-status=live |access-date=June 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190627221007/https://www.dallasnews.com/news/dallas/2019/06/22/air-force-base-prompted-dallas-courthouse-shooter-educates-personnel-recognizing-incel-warning-signs |archive-date=June 27, 2019}} Self-identified incels have praised attackers with unclear motives, who they believe to be incels. After the [2017 Las Vegas shooting](/source/2017_Las_Vegas_shooting), some of the incel community celebrated the shooter [Stephen Paddock](/source/Stephen_Paddock), who they felt was a hero who was targeting "normies". After the [2018 Toronto shooting](/source/2018_Toronto_shooting), posters on an incel message board expressed excitement with the possibility that the perpetrator might be an incel, although no motive was identified.{{Cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/incels-looksmaxing-obsession_us_5b50e56ee4b0de86f48b0a4f |title=Inside Incels' Looksmaxing Obsession: Penis Stretching, Skull Implants And Rage |last=Cook |first=Jesselyn |date=July 24, 2018 |work=[HuffPost](/source/HuffPost) |access-date=August 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180811220219/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/incels-looksmaxing-obsession_us_5b50e56ee4b0de86f48b0a4f |archive-date=August 11, 2018 |url-status=live}} === 2020s === Coty Scott Taylor abducted 6-year-old Faye Marie Swetlik on February 10, 2020, in [Cayce, South Carolina](/source/Cayce%2C_South_Carolina). Three days later, both Taylor and Swetlik were found dead. It was determined that Taylor had suffocated Swetlik and then killed himself by cutting his throat.{{Cite news |last1=Lynch |first1=Jamiel |last2=Simon |first2=Darran |date=February 18, 2020 |title=Faye Swetlik died from asphyxiation hours after abduction, coroner says |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/18/us/faye-marie-swetlik-death-autopsy/index.html |access-date=May 15, 2025 |publisher=[CNN](/source/CNN)}} Friends reported that Taylor was a self-described incel and that he had often said he "lived without hope".{{Cite web |last=Luperon |first=Alberto |date=July 4, 2021 |title=Man Who Killed 6-Year-Old Faye Swetlik Was Self-Described 'Incel' Who Hid Her Body for Two Days: Police |url=https://lawandcrime.com/crime/man-who-killed-6-year-old-faye-swetlik-was-self-described-incel-who-hid-her-body-for-two-days-police/ |access-date=May 15, 2025 |work=[Law & Crime](/source/Law_%26_Crime)}} On February 24, 2020, [a female spa worker was stabbed to death](/source/2020_Toronto_machete_attack) in an attack that also severely injured her female coworker at an [erotic massage parlor](/source/Massage_parlor) in Toronto. On May 19, the [Toronto Police Service](/source/Toronto_Police_Service) declared the attack was being treated as a terrorist incident after evidence pointed to the stabbings being motivated by incel ideology, and police laid charges against a 17-year-old male alleged to have committed the stabbings. This was the first time violence thought to be motivated by incel ideologies was prosecuted as an act of terrorism, and is also believed to be the first act of violence not perpetrated by an [Islamist extremist](/source/Islamist_extremist) to be prosecuted as terrorism in Canada.{{Cite web |title=Deadly attack at Toronto erotic spa was incel terrorism, police allege |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/6910670/toronto-spa-terrorism-incel/ |last1=Bell |first1=Stewart |last2=Russell |first2=Andrew |date=May 19, 2020 |website=[Global News](/source/Global_News) |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200519230940/https://globalnews.ca/news/6910670/toronto-spa-terrorism-incel/ |archive-date=May 19, 2020 |access-date=May 19, 2020 |last3=McDonald |first3=Catherine}} On September 14, 2022, the perpetrator entered a guilty plea to murder and attempted murder.{{Cite news |last=Nassar |first=Shanifa |date=September 14, 2022 |title=Toronto spa killer pleads guilty to murder in deadly sword attack, cites van attacker as 'inspiration' |publisher=[CBC.ca](/source/CBC.ca) |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/incel-massage-parlour-guilty-1.6582534 |access-date=June 7, 2023 |archive-date=June 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607114941/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/incel-massage-parlour-guilty-1.6582534 |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last=Hasham |first=Alyshah |date=September 14, 2022 |title=17-year-old spa killer said he was inspired by Toronto van attack, cited 'incel rebellion' |publisher=[Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star) |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2022/09/14/17-year-old-spa-killer-cited-incel-rebellion-used-sword-etched-with-thot-slayer-toronto-terror-trial-reveals.html |access-date=June 7, 2023 |archive-date=June 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602231641/https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2022/09/14/17-year-old-spa-killer-cited-incel-rebellion-used-sword-etched-with-thot-slayer-toronto-terror-trial-reveals.html |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last=Mandel |first=Michele |date=September 14, 2022 |title=MANDEL: Guilty plea in alleged incel-inspired sword attack on Toronto spa worker |publisher=[Toronto Sun](/source/Toronto_Sun) |url=https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/mandel-guilty-plea-in-alleged-incel-inspired-sword-attack-on-toronto-spa-worker |access-date=June 7, 2023 |archive-date=January 31, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240131142304/https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/mandel-guilty-plea-in-alleged-incel-inspired-sword-attack-on-toronto-spa-worker |url-status=live}} The attack was ruled a terrorist attack during sentencing proceedings.{{Cite news |date=June 6, 2023 |title=Incel-inspired Toronto massage parlour murder was act of terror, judge rules |work=[CBC News](/source/CBC_News) |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/incel-toronto-massage-killing-terrorism-1.6867177 |access-date=May 20, 2020 |archive-date=June 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606211024/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/incel-toronto-massage-killing-terrorism-1.6867177 |url-status=live}} Armando Hernandez Jr. opened fire on May 20, 2020, at [Westgate Entertainment District](/source/Westgate_Entertainment_District), a [mixed-use development](/source/mixed-use_development) in [Glendale, Arizona](/source/Glendale%2C_Arizona), before being arrested by police. A 19-year-old man was critically injured, while a 30-year-old woman and a 16-year-old girl suffered minor injuries. According to the [Maricopa County](/source/Maricopa_County) prosecutor, Hernandez identified himself as an incel and claimed he wanted to target couples and shoot at least ten people.{{cite news |last1=McLaughlin |first1=Eliott C. |last2=Rose |first2=Andy |last3=Toropin |first3=Konstantin |date=May 21, 2020 |title=Suspect in Arizona shooting wanted to target couples, prosecutor says |publisher=[CNN](/source/CNN) |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/20/us/westgate-arizona-shooting/index.html |url-status=live |access-date=May 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522025510/https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/20/us/westgate-arizona-shooting/index.html |archive-date=May 22, 2020}} The prosecutor said, "Mr. Hernandez is a self-professed incel{{nbsp}}... He was taking out his anger at society, the feeling that he has been bullied, the feeling that women didn't want him". The prosecutor also alleged that Hernandez sent a video of the attack to a woman he wished to impress. Between January and {{As of|2020|July|30|alt=the end of July 2020}}, five self-identified incels were arrested in separate incidents in North America for killing or planning to kill women. Among them was Cole Carini, a man who was charged with making false statements to law enforcement in June 2020 after claiming serious injuries to his hands had been caused by a lawnmower accident. Police alleged that Carini was actually injured while trying to make a bomb, and that he had written a note threatening violence against women and referencing Elliot Rodger.{{Cite web |date=June 6, 2020 |title=Man's hand blown off; note references violence against women |url=https://apnews.com/4aede80947dc6faead4c49a3ea15c840 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606190406/https://apnews.com/4aede80947dc6faead4c49a3ea15c840 |archive-date=June 6, 2020 |access-date=June 6, 2020 |website=[The Associated Press](/source/The_Associated_Press)}} In April 2021, Malik Sanchez, a 19-year-old self-described incel who praised Elliot Rodger,{{cite news |last1=Crane-Newman |first1=Molly |title=Manhattan incel 'Smooth Sanchez' gets no prison time for livestreamed bomb threat |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2022/04/06/manhattan-incel-smooth-sanchez-gets-no-prison-time-for-livestreamed-bomb-threat/ |access-date=February 6, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |date=April 6, 2022 |archive-date=February 6, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240206170459/https://www.nydailynews.com/2022/04/06/manhattan-incel-smooth-sanchez-gets-no-prison-time-for-livestreamed-bomb-threat/ |url-status=live}} was arrested on federal charges after allegedly videotaping himself approaching women sitting outside a restaurant in [Manhattan, New York](/source/Manhattan%2C_New_York) and telling them he was going to detonate a bomb.{{Cite web |last=Neumeister |first=Larry |date=April 14, 2021 |title='Incel' teen held without bail on federal bomb threat charge |url=https://apnews.com/article/new-york-bomb-threats-arrests-manhattan-2080251d9390401f387cfff16f6ef6bd |access-date=April 28, 2021 |website=[The Associated Press](/source/The_Associated_Press) |archive-date=April 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428013123/https://apnews.com/article/new-york-bomb-threats-arrests-manhattan-2080251d9390401f387cfff16f6ef6bd |url-status=live}} The man had previously been arrested several times for harassing others, often while recording or [livestreaming](/source/livestreaming), and for multiple assaults with [pepper spray](/source/pepper_spray).{{Cite news |last=Jacobs |first=Shayna |date=April 14, 2021 |title='Incel' devotee in New York terrorized Manhattan diners with bomb hoax and pepper-sprayed several victims, feds say |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/incel-bomb-hoax-manhattan/2021/04/14/022fe9e6-9d3c-11eb-b7a8-014b14aeb9e4_story.html |issn=0190-8286 |url-access=limited |access-date=April 28, 2021 |archive-date=December 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203201823/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/incel-bomb-hoax-manhattan/2021/04/14/022fe9e6-9d3c-11eb-b7a8-014b14aeb9e4_story.html |url-status=live}} In July 2021, a 21-year-old self-identified incel from Ohio was charged with attempting a [hate crime](/source/Hate_crime_laws_in_the_United_States) and illegally possessing a machine gun. The man was a frequent poster on a popular incel website, where he wrote posts venerating Elliot Rodger. He wrote a manifesto in which he expressed his desire to "slaughter" women, and in another document he allegedly wrote about his goals to kill 3,000 people in a mass casualty attack.{{Cite news |last=Diaz |first=Jaclyn |date=July 22, 2021 |title=Police Foiled An Ohio Incel's Plot To Kill Women In A Mass Shooting, Prosecutors Say |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/07/22/1019089834/police-foiled-an-ohio-incels-plot-to-kill-women-in-a-mass-shooting-prosecutors-s |access-date=July 22, 2021 |website=[National Public Radio](/source/National_Public_Radio) |archive-date=January 31, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240131142303/https://www.npr.org/2021/07/22/1019089834/police-foiled-an-ohio-incels-plot-to-kill-women-in-a-mass-shooting-prosecutors-s |url-status=live}} On August 12, 2021, Jake Davison, a 22-year-old man who referenced "inceldom" in online videos and expressed similar views, perpetrated a [mass shooting](/source/Plymouth_shooting) in [Plymouth](/source/Plymouth), England. He killed five people, including his mother, and injured two others before killing himself.{{Cite news |last=Topping |first=Alexandra |date=August 13, 2021 |title=Plymouth shootings may be a sign 'incel' culture is spreading |url=http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/aug/13/plymouth-shootings-may-be-a-sign-the-incel-culture-is-spreading |access-date=July 31, 2023 |work=The Guardian |archive-date=August 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815103900/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/aug/13/plymouth-shootings-may-be-a-sign-the-incel-culture-is-spreading |url-status=live}} On December 27, 2021, 47-year-old Lyndon McLeod committed the [2021 Denver and Lakewood shootings](/source/2021_Denver_and_Lakewood_shootings), murdering five people before being killed by a police officer. McLeod had self-published a trilogy of [science fiction](/source/science_fiction) novels under the [pen name](/source/pen_name) Roman MccClay, in which the protagonist of those books, named after himself, was depicted as killing three of the people McLeod eventually targeted.{{Cite web |date=December 29, 2021 |title=Denver Shooting Suspect Lyndon McLeod Glorified Guns and Misogyny: 'War is Coming' |url=https://www.newsweek.com/denver-shooter-lyndon-mcleod-guns-misogyny-social-media-1663930 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20211229183344/https://www.newsweek.com/denver-shooter-lyndon-mcleod-guns-misogyny-social-media-1663930 |archive-date=December 29, 2021 |access-date=March 20, 2024 |website=[Newsweek](/source/Newsweek)}}{{Cite web |date=January 5, 2022 |title=Denver's mass shooter was tragically predictable: white, male, and misogynist |url=https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/denver-s-mass-shooter-was-tragically-predictable-white-male-misogynist-n1286995 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320051603/https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/denver-s-mass-shooter-was-tragically-predictable-white-male-misogynist-n1286995 |archive-date=March 20, 2024 |access-date=March 20, 2024 |publisher=[MSNBC](/source/MSNBC)}}{{Cite news |last1=Slevin |first1=Colleen |last2=Peipert |first2=Thomas |date=December 29, 2021 |title=Suspect in Denver Shootings Wrote Books Previewing Attacks |publisher=Associated Press |url=https://apnews.com/article/business-john-romero-denver-shootings-crime-7d7f178b14873c0d01c1223c0a55d67b |access-date=}} On March 21, 2022, [a stabbing](/source/Malm%C3%B6_school_stabbing) took place at Malmö Latin School in [Malmö](/source/Malm%C3%B6), Sweden, during which 18-year-old Fabian Cederholm stabbed and killed two female teachers with an axe and a knife before disarming himself, calling emergency services and being arrested by first responders. Cederholm had previously praised Elliot Rodger online.{{cite news |last=Milerud |first=Evelina |title=18-åringen förhörs om lärarmorden |url=https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/i-dag-ska-18-aringen-horas-om-malmo-latin/ |work=Expressen |date=July 26, 2022 |access-date=September 30, 2025 |language=sv}} On May 6, 2023, 33-year-old self-identified incel Mauricio Martinez Garcia went on a [spree shooting in a mall in Allen, Texas](/source/2023_Allen%2C_Texas_mall_shooting). Garcia killed eight people and injured at least seven others before he was killed by a police officer.{{Cite web |last=Ebrahimji |first=Casey Tolan, Paul P. Murphy, Curt Devine, Josh Campbell, Alisha |date=May 8, 2023 |title=What we know about the North Texas outlet mall gunman and his online posts |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/08/us/mauricio-garcia-allen-texas-shooting/index.html |access-date=May 13, 2023 |publisher=CNN |language=en |archive-date=May 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230509202637/https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/08/us/mauricio-garcia-allen-texas-shooting/index.html |url-status=live}} On October 4, 2024, 19-year-old Semih Çelik [killed Ayşenur Halil and İkbal Uzuner](/source/Murders_of_Ay%C5%9Fenur_Halil_and_%C4%B0kbal_Uzuner) (both women aged 19) during which he threw Uzuner's severed head off the [Walls of Constantinople](/source/Walls_of_Constantinople) before committing suicide himself.{{Cite news |date=October 7, 2024 |title=İkbal Uzuner ve Ayşenur Halil'i vahşice öldüren Semih Çelik hakkında neler biliniyor? Olay günü neler yaşandı? |url=https://www.bbc.com/turkce/articles/cm24ymlz277o |trans-title=What is known about Semih Çelik, who brutally killed Ikbal Uzuner and Ayşenur Halil? What happened on the day of the incident? |publisher=[BBC](/source/BBC) |language=tr}}{{Cite web |date=October 9, 2024 |title=Discord: Neden erişim engeli getirildi, uygulama neden eleştiriliyor? |url=https://www.bbc.com/turkce/articles/cz6we6z232wo |access-date=May 23, 2025 |website=BBC News Türkçe |language=tr}}{{Cite web |last=Hürriyet |date=October 8, 2024 |title=İncel alarmı: Caniyi öven yazışmalar tespit edildi! – CNN Türk Haberler Son Dakika |url=https://www.cnnturk.com/turkiye/galeri/incel-alarmi-caniyi-oven-yazismalar-tespit-edildi-2163501?page=1 |access-date=May 23, 2025 |publisher=CNN TÜRK |language=tr}} Çelik was in contact with incel groups on [Discord](/source/Discord), where he received praise for his actions.{{Cite web |date=October 10, 2024 |title=Outrage over murders of women forces Turkey's Erdoğan to harden laws |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/outrage-murder-women-turkey-erdogan-feminicide-laws-ak-party/ |access-date=May 23, 2025 |website=POLITICO |language=en-GB}} Turkish police began monitoring incel groups in response.{{Cite web |last=English |first=Duvar |date=July 10, 2024 |title=Turkish police to monitor 'incel' groups after brutal femicides |url=https://www.duvarenglish.com/turkish-police-to-monitor-incel-groups-after-brutal-femicides-news-65056 |access-date=May 23, 2025 |website=Duvar}} Following a decision by an Ankara court, [Turkey](/source/Turkey) blocked Discord in the aftermath of the murders.{{Cite web |last=English |first=Duvar |date=September 10, 2024 |title=Turkey blocks access to Discord |url=https://www.duvarenglish.com/turkey-blocks-access-to-discord-news-65066 |access-date=May 23, 2025 |website=Duvar}} On April 17, 2025, two people were killed and six others injured, including suspect Phoenix Ikner, in [a shooting](/source/2025_Florida_State_University_shooting) at [Florida State University](/source/Florida_State_University). The suspect reportedly referred to himself as an incel in conversations with [ChatGPT](/source/ChatGPT).{{Cite web |last=Caputo |first=Liv |date=April 15, 2026 |title=Alleged FSU shooter consulted ChatGPT on when to attack, sexual scenarios with a minor |url=https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/04/15/alleged-fsu-shooter-consulted-chatgpt-on-when-to-attack-sexual-scenarios-with-a-minor/ |access-date=April 16, 2026 |website=[Florida Phoenix](/source/Florida_Phoenix) |language=en-US}} On April 26, 2025, 38-year-old [Owen Lawrence](/source/Owen_Lawrence), armed with a crossbow, attacked two 19 and 31-year-old women participating in the [Otley Run](/source/Otley_Run), a popular [Pub crawl](/source/Pub_crawl) in [Leeds](/source/Leeds), West Yorkshire, with the 19-year-old having to undergo surgery for life-threatening injuries.{{cite web |url=https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/news/leeds-news/who-owen-lawrence-inside-twisted-31536691 |title=Who is Owen Lawrence? Inside twisted life of woman-hating incel behind sickening 'Otley Run Massacre' |website=[LeedsLive](/source/LeedsLive) |last=Dowdeswell |first=Andrew |date=April 29, 2025 |access-date=February 1, 2026}} Lawrence then fired an airgun into his head, leading to his death two days later. Prior to the attack, he had explicitly stated via Facebook that the motive for the attack was misogyny, and had referenced incel ideology and other mass murders (some of whom were incels) in the past.{{cite web |url=https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/local-news/chilling-otley-run-massacre-post-31533917 |title=Chilling 'Otley Run Massacre' post Oz Lawrence published one hour before misogynistic attack in full |last=Dowdeswell |first=Andrew |website=[YorkshireLive](/source/YorkshireLive) |date=April 29, 2025 |access-date=February 1, 2026}} On April 15, 2026, 14-year-old İsa Aras Mersinli [shot and killed 10 people and wounded 13 at his school in Onikişubat, Turkey](/source/2026_Oniki%C5%9Fubat_school_shooting) before being stabbed to death by two students' father.{{Cite news |date=April 15, 2026 |title=Student kills nine in Turkey's second school shooting in two days |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/least-one-killed-turkey-school-shooting-ntv-reports-2026-04-15/ |access-date=April 15, 2026 |publisher=[Reuters](/source/Reuters)}} His [WhatsApp](/source/WhatsApp) account's profile picture was a picture of Elliot Rodger.{{Cite web |last= |date=April 16, 2026 |title=Kahramanmaraş'ta 1 öğretmen 8 öğrenciyi öldüren saldırganla ilgili ilginç detay - Kahramanmaraş Haberleri |url=https://www.haberturk.com/yerel-haberler/kahramanmaras-haberleri/kahramanmarasta-1-ogretmen-8-ogrenciyi-olduren-saldirganla-ilgili-ilginc-detay-117475771 |access-date=April 15, 2026 |website=[Habertürk](/source/Habert%C3%BCrk) |language=tr}} == Criticism == === Of the subculture === Incel communities have been criticized in the media and by researchers{{Who|date=April 2026}} as violent, misogynist, and extremist. Keegan Hankes, a senior research analyst working for the Southern Poverty Law Center, has cautioned that exposure to violent content on incel forums "play[s] a very large role" in the radicalization of their members, and describes incel forums as having "more violent rhetoric than I'm used to seeing on even white supremacist sites". Journalist David Futrelle has described incel communities as "violently misogynistic", and is among critics who attribute worsening violent rhetoric on incel forums to the growth of the alt-right and white supremacy, and the overlap between incel communities and online hate groups.{{Cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/online-extremism-radical-misogyny_us_5b491358e4b0bc69a787458f |title=Internet Giants Are Banning Extremists (Just Not The Ones Targeting Women) |last=Cook |first=Jesselyn |date=July 27, 2018 |work=[HuffPost](/source/HuffPost) |access-date=August 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180811021553/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/online-extremism-radical-misogyny_us_5b491358e4b0bc69a787458f |archive-date=August 11, 2018 |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/4167152/toronto-van-attack-incel-alek-minassian-violence/ |title=Expert traces link between violent online alt-right fantasies and real-world attacks |last=Cain |first=Patrick |date=April 27, 2018 |work=[Global News](/source/Global_News) |access-date=August 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812024437/https://globalnews.ca/news/4167152/toronto-van-attack-incel-alek-minassian-violence/ |archive-date=August 12, 2018 |url-status=live}} Psychologist and sex researcher [James Cantor](/source/James_Cantor) has described incels as "a group of people who usually lack sufficient social skills and{{nbsp}}... find themselves very frustrated". He has said that in incel forums "when they're surrounded by other people with similar frustrations, they kind of lose track of what typical discourse is, and they drive themselves into more and more extreme beliefs".{{Cite web |date=April 24, 2018 |title=What's an 'incel'? Unpacking the disturbing Facebook post linked to Toronto van attack |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/what-s-an-incel-unpacking-the-disturbing-facebook-post-linked-to-toronto-van-attack-1.3900226?cache=wfwhhfmnihogp%3FclipId%3D104059 |access-date=April 27, 2021 |publisher=[CTV News](/source/CTV_News) |archive-date=April 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428015607/https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/what-s-an-incel-unpacking-the-disturbing-facebook-post-linked-to-toronto-van-attack-1.3900226?cache=wfwhhfmnihogp%3FclipId%3D104059 |url-status=live}} Senior research fellow at the [Institute for Strategic Dialogue](/source/Institute_for_Strategic_Dialogue){{Nbsp}}(ISD), [Amarnath Amarasingam](/source/Amarnath_Amarasingam), has criticized some incel communities where calls for violence are commonplace, saying "under the right set of psychological and personal circumstances, these kinds of forums can be dangerous and push people into violence". In August 2018, another researcher at the ISD, Jacob Davey, compared the radicalization of men in incel forums to teenagers being urged to go to extreme measures on online [forums that promote anorexia and other eating disorders](/source/Pro-ana), and to online campaigns convincing people to join [ISIL](/source/ISIL). Speaking about their feelings of entitlement to sex, Davey said the attitude "can go as far as the justification of rape". While generally agreeing with critics' concerns about misogyny and other negative characteristics in the incel subculture, some commentators have been more sympathetic. In April 2018, economist [Robin Hanson](/source/Robin_Hanson) wrote a blog post likening access to sex with access to income, writing that he found it puzzling that similar concern had not been shown to incels as to low-income individuals. Hanson was criticized by some for discussing sex as if it was a commodity; others wrote more positively about his opinions. In May 2018, the ''New York Times'' columnist [Ross Douthat](/source/Ross_Douthat) wrote a similarly controversial op-ed, titled "The Redistribution of Sex" in which he suggested sex robots and [sex worker](/source/sex_worker)s would inevitably be called upon to satisfy incels' sexual desires.{{Cite news |url=https://www.vox.com/2018/5/4/17314260/incel-sex-robots-sexual-redistribution-ross-douthat-history |title=We're talking about 'sex robots' now. We've been here before. |last=Burton |first=Tara Isabella |date=May 4, 2018 |work=[Vox](/source/Vox_(website)) |access-date=August 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180828175807/https://www.vox.com/2018/5/4/17314260/incel-sex-robots-sexual-redistribution-ross-douthat-history |archive-date=August 28, 2018 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/02/opinion/incels-sex-robots-redistribution.html |title=The Redistribution of Sex |last=Douthat |first=Ross |author-link=Ross Douthat |date=May 2, 2018 |website=The New York Times |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201222133/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/02/opinion/incels-sex-robots-redistribution.html |archive-date=February 1, 2020 |url-access=limited}} Columnist [Toby Young](/source/Toby_Young) argues that sex robots could be a "workable solution";{{cite news |last1=Young |first1=Toby |author-link=Toby Young |date=May 3, 2018 |title=What every incel needs: a sex robot |work=[The Spectator](/source/The_Spectator) |url=https://spectator.com/article/what-every-incel-needs-a-sex-robot |access-date= |url-access=subscription}} others{{Who|date=August 2025}} have criticized the column for objectifying women and for legitimizing the incel ideology.{{Cite web |title=Actually We Don't Owe You Sex, and We Never Will |url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a20138446/redistribution-sex-incels/ |last=Donegan |first=Moira |date=May 4, 2018 |website=[Cosmopolitan](/source/Cosmopolitan_(magazine)) |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516144738/https://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a20138446/redistribution-sex-incels/ |archive-date=May 16, 2020 |access-date=May 26, 2020}}{{Cite web |title='Redistributing Sex' Is a Toxic Conversation About Toxic People |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/what-are-incels-redistributing-sex-new-york-times-ross-douthat/ |last=Cole |first=Samantha |date=May 3, 2018 |website=[Vice](/source/Vice_(website)) |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224083836/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/evqy3j/what-are-incels-redistributing-sex-new-york-times-ross-douthat |archive-date=December 24, 2019 |access-date=May 26, 2020}} Journalist Zack Beauchamp has expressed concern about other types of harm inflicted by incels that may be lost in the attention paid specifically to mass violence; he points to forum posts in which users brag about yelling at, catfishing, and sexually assaulting women. [University of Portsmouth](/source/University_of_Portsmouth) lecturer Lisa Sugiura has described incel forums as a "networked misogyny", and urged the posts in such forums be taken seriously not only in the context of [hate speech](/source/hate_speech) but also as a form of [grooming](/source/Child_grooming) that could radicalize "impressionable and vulnerable disillusioned young men".{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/rise-women-haters-inside-dark-world-british-incels/ |title=Rise of the women haters: Inside the dark world of the British 'incels' |last=Tait |first=Amelia |date=August 18, 2018 |work=The Daily Telegraph |issn=0307-1235 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180901112114/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/rise-women-haters-inside-dark-world-british-incels/ |archive-date=September 1, 2018 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}} Some sociological research on incel communities has analyzed them as a [hybrid masculinity](/source/hybrid_masculinity), in which privileged men distance themselves from [hegemonic masculinity](/source/hegemonic_masculinity) while simultaneously reproducing it. === Of platforms providing services to incel communities === Criticism has also been directed against platforms that host or have hosted incel content, including Reddit (which banned the r/incels community in 2017, and banned most of the remaining incel communities in September 2019, but is still home to some identifying as incels) and [Twitter](/source/Twitter). [Cloudflare](/source/Cloudflare), which provides services including [DDoS protection](/source/DDoS_protection), [caching](/source/caching) and obsfucation of the source host of the content,{{cite web |last1=Carlisle |first1=Stephen |title=Cloudflare: The "Now You See Me, Now You Don't" of the Internet |url=http://copyright.nova.edu/cloudflare/ |website=Office of Copyright |access-date=January 25, 2022 |date=May 19, 2017 |archive-date=January 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125064823/http://copyright.nova.edu/cloudflare/ |url-status=live}} has also been criticized for protecting incel websites against [downtime](/source/downtime) even when webhosts have terminated service.{{Cite news |last=Cook |first=Jesselyn |date=July 25, 2018 |title=From Nazis To Incels: How One Tech Company Helps Hate Groups Thrive |work=[HuffPost](/source/HuffPost) |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/incels-cloudfare-online-content-protection_us_5b491632e4b022fdcc597327 |url-status=live |access-date=August 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180811021625/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/incels-cloudfare-online-content-protection_us_5b491632e4b022fdcc597327 |archive-date=August 11, 2018}} === Of reporting and research === Reporting on incels by media outlets following the incel-related attacks during the 2010s has been criticized for its "breathless" coverage, for normalizing incel communities by describing them only as "sexually frustrated", and for directing readers to incel communities.{{Cite news |url=https://www.wired.co.uk/article/toronto-attack-incel-alek-minassian |title=After the Toronto attack don't explain Incel ideology, ban it |last=Kobie |first=Nicole |date=April 26, 2018 |magazine=[Wired](/source/Wired_(magazine)) |access-date=August 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812021921/https://www.wired.co.uk/article/toronto-attack-incel-alek-minassian |archive-date=August 12, 2018 |url-status=live}} Some reporting has also been criticized for giving attackers notoriety by reporting on them at length, or for [victim blaming](/source/victim_blaming) by implying that women who had rejected the attackers' romantic or sexual advances held some responsibility for provoking the attacks.{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-44321469 |title=The problem with mass shootings and the media |last=Cooper |first=Kelly-Leigh |date=May 31, 2018 |work=[BBC News](/source/BBC_News) |access-date=August 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181013045609/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-44321469 |archive-date=October 13, 2018 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=No, girls and women don't 'provoke' mass murderers |url=https://www.salon.com/2018/05/21/no-girls-and-women-dont-provoke-mass-murderers/ |last=Williams |first=Mary Elizabeth |author-link=Mary Elizabeth Williams |date=May 21, 2018 |website=[Salon](/source/Salon_(website)) |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810193542/https://www.salon.com/2018/05/21/no-girls-and-women-dont-provoke-mass-murderers/ |archive-date=August 10, 2018 |access-date=August 11, 2018}} Those who have written sympathetically about incels have faced criticism for legitimizing the incel ideology, such as from Samantha Cole in ''[Vice](/source/Vice_(magazine))'' who condemned media outlets who "cove[r] and amplif[y] toxic internet culture as if it's valid ideology". In a 2021 report published by Political Research Associates, M. Kelly wrote about recent attempts by various self-identified incels to "rebrand" their communities and stated that "incels' attempts to reframe their identity have also been helped along by researchers, journalists, and 'counter-violent extremism' experts, who, in their attempts to investigate and understand incels, have given them larger, more mainstream platforms. These new platforms have allowed self-identified incels to reframe the public narrative about them; minimize the threat their community poses; and have amplified—or even endorsed—their hate-laced grievances, centering their self-perceived victimhood at the hands of women who deny them sex". Kelly criticized a podcast titled ''The Incel Project'' for platforming incel ideologies without challenging or fact-checking their statements. She said the creator, Naama Kates, was "no longer just reporting on incels' misogyny, but justifying and sharing it with the world". Kelly criticized the International Center for Study of Violent Extremism (ICSVE), who published several reports on incels co-authored by Kates and by the founder and lead moderator of a major incel forum, writing that "while previous ICSVE reports have drawn from primary data, including interviews and surveys with members of the community being studied, this seems to be the first time—at ICSVE or in academic research more broadly—that someone actively involved in a community that regularly expresses bigoted or violent ideology has co-authored the resulting study". A 2024 report commissioned by the UK Commission for Countering Extremism concluded that incel participation is driven primarily by mental-health difficulties and [social isolation](/source/social_isolation) rather than ideological extremism, and recommended that public responses focus on support services instead of counter-terrorism approaches.{{cite web |title='Incels' need mental health support rather than a counter terrorism intervention |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/predicting-harm-among-incels-involuntary-celibates/press-release-incels-need-mental-health-support-rather-than-a-counter-terrorism-intervention-the-worlds-largest-study-of-incels-finds-accessible |website=UK Commission for Countering Extremism |date=May 22, 2024}} == Portrayals in fiction == In his debut novel ''[Whatever](/source/Whatever_(novel))'' (1994), French writer [Michel Houellebecq](/source/Michel_Houellebecq) seems to portray early examples of incels. However, the term did not yet exist at the time; neither did the online communities. The unnamed, 30-year-old protagonist looks unattractive, lacks social skills and has depression, which means that despite his excellent job as an IT professional, he is not popular with women. Things are much worse for his colleague, who is downright ugly and a virgin at 28. The main character tries to seduce his friend into killing a young woman who has rejected him, which his friend refuses at the last moment. In this novel, the main protagonist philosophizes about the disastrous consequences of the sexual revolution. Because of sexual liberalism, the market mechanism has come to determine human relationships; as a consequence, beautiful people get everything, ugly people get nothing. A film adaptation was made in 1999, also titled [Whatever](/source/Whatever_(1999_film)).{{Aut|[Houellebecq, Michel](/source/Michel_Houellebecq)}} (1994): ''[Whatever](/source/Whatever_(novel))''. French: ''Extension du domaine de la lutte''. Translated by Paul Hammond. Serpent's Tail, London, 1998. {{ISBN|978-1-85242-584-5}}.{{cite news |last1=Kirsch |first1=Adam |author1-link=Adam Kirsch |title=A French Novelist Imagined Sexual Dystopia. Now It's Arrived. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/12/books/review/michael-houellebecqs-sexual-distopia.html |access-date=December 26, 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=July 12, 2018 |type=book review |url-access=limited |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240131142304/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/12/books/review/michael-houellebecqs-sexual-distopia.html |archive-date=January 31, 2024 |url-status=live}}{{Aut|[Williams, Zoe](/source/Zoe_Williams_(writer))}}, [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/20/involuntary-celibacy-incels-problem-right-to-sex-not-the-answer "Involuntary celibacy is a genuine problem, but a 'right to sex' is not the answer"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240807130300/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/20/involuntary-celibacy-incels-problem-right-to-sex-not-the-answer |date=August 7, 2024 }}, in: ''[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)'', October 20, 2022. Two episodes of the American crime drama ''[Law & Order: Special Victims Unit](/source/Law_%26_Order%3A_Special_Victims_Unit)'' are based on incels. In [season 16](/source/Law_%26_Order%3A_Special_Victims_Unit_(season_16)), the episode "[Holden's Manifesto](/source/Holden's_Manifesto)" (2014) is based on Elliot Rodger and the 2014 Isla Vista killings.{{Cite web |last=Niazi |first=Amil |date=October 18, 2018 |title=The Best Episodes from All 20 Years of 'Law & Order: SVU' |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-best-episodes-from-all-20-years-of-law-and-order-svu/ |access-date=August 18, 2020 |website=[Vice](/source/Vice_(magazine)) |archive-date=March 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304015154/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qv95nx/the-best-episodes-from-all-20-years-of-law-and-order-svu |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |last=Easton |first=Anne |date=October 16, 2014 |title='Law & Order: SVU' Recap 16×4: The Quest for Validation |url=https://observer.com/2014/10/law-order-svu-recap-16x4-the-quest-for-validation/ |access-date=August 18, 2020 |website=[Observer](/source/The_New_York_Observer) |archive-date=October 19, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019115200/http://observer.com/2014/10/law-order-svu-recap-16x4-the-quest-for-validation |url-status=live}} In [season 20](/source/Law_%26_Order%3A_Special_Victims_Unit_(season_20)), the episode "[Revenge](/source/Law_%26_Order%3A_Special_Victims_Unit_(season_20))" (2018) features a group of incels who attack the targets of each other's obsession to exact revenge while creating alibis for one another, the plotline which in itself is inspired by a 1950s novel, ''[Strangers on a Train](/source/Strangers_on_a_Train_(novel))''.{{Cite web |last=VanArendonk |first=Kathryn |date=October 17, 2018 |title=Law & Order: SVU Did a Whole Episode About Incels |url=https://www.vulture.com/2018/10/law-and-order-svu-season-20-incel-episode.html |access-date=August 18, 2020 |website=[Vulture](/source/Vulture.com) |archive-date=November 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109025336/https://www.vulture.com/2018/10/law-and-order-svu-season-20-incel-episode.html |url-status=live}} An episode of the American medical series ''[Chicago Med](/source/Chicago_Med)'' also focused on an incel patient who is injured in a [drive-by shooting](/source/drive-by_shooting) targeting hospital staff.{{Cite web |last=Hurley |first=Laura |date=February 27, 2019 |title=Why Chicago Med's Ripped From The Headlines Episodes Are So Important, According To One Star |url=https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2467602/why-chicago-meds-ripped-from-the-headlines-episodes-are-so-important-according-to-one-star |access-date=June 1, 2025 |website=Cinemablend}} ''[Fair Warning](/source/Fair_Warning_(Connelly_novel))'', a 2020 [thriller](/source/Thriller_(genre)) novel by [Michael Connelly](/source/Michael_Connelly), features a company that buys [genetic test](/source/genetic_test) data on women genetically identified as vulnerable to [sex addiction](/source/sex_addiction). The company sells their names and addresses to incels, one of whom is a [serial killer](/source/serial_killer).{{Cite web |last=Dallas |first=Sandra |date=May 22, 2020 |title=Book review: In 'Fair Warning,' the lucrative world of DNA testing is fodder for crime |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2020/05/22/book-review-fair-warning-michael-connelly/ |access-date=August 18, 2020 |website=[The Denver Post](/source/The_Denver_Post) |archive-date=August 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200817164422/https://www.denverpost.com/2020/05/22/book-review-fair-warning-michael-connelly/ |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |last=Loosley |first=Stephen |date=June 12, 2020 |title=Michael Connelly's Fair Warning: forensic take on chilling serial crime |url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=TAWEB_WRE170_a&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Farts%2Freview%2Fmichael-connellys-fair-warning-forensic-take-on-chilling-serial-crime%2Fnews-story%2F5e4bb3ebe9bde104a55dfd89306b9d1b&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&nk=46675982c182767ffbb97c07f5b58f4a-1597765886 |access-date=August 18, 2020 |website=[The Australian](/source/The_Australian) |archive-date=November 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211104215611/https://www.theaustralian.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=TAWEB_WRE170_a&dest=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/michael-connellys-fair-warning-forensic-take-on-chilling-serial-crime/news-story/5e4bb3ebe9bde104a55dfd89306b9d1b&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&nk=46675982c182767ffbb97c07f5b58f4a-1597765886 |url-status=live}} The 2023 science fiction film ''[The Beast](/source/The_Beast_(2023_film))'' also features a character based on Elliot Rodger.{{Cite web |last=Croll |first=Ben |title=Director Bertrand Bonello Explains the Shocking, Incel Inspiration for 'The Beast,' Starring Lea Seydoux, George MacKay (Exclusive) |url=https://variety.com/2023/film/global/bertrand-bonello-incel-the-beast-lea-seydoux-george-mackay-1235712237/ |date=September 3, 2023 |access-date=October 17, 2023 |website=Variety |archive-date=September 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230924032912/https://variety.com/2023/film/global/bertrand-bonello-incel-the-beast-lea-seydoux-george-mackay-1235712237/ |url-status=live}} The British miniseries ''[Adolescence](/source/Adolescence_(TV_series))'', released on [Netflix](/source/Netflix) in 2025, directly explores incel culture. Told across four episodes, the series follows Jamie Miller, a 13-year-old boy arrested for the murder of his classmate, Katie. Through police interrogations and psychological evaluations, it is revealed that Jamie had been influenced by online ideologies associated with the manosphere and incel communities. The series examines the impact of social media, [toxic masculinity](/source/toxic_masculinity), and adolescent radicalization.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/mar/19/adolescence-and-the-irrational-power-of-incel-ideas |title=Adolescence and the irrational power of 'incel' ideas |work=The Guardian |date=March 19, 2025}} The first story in the 2024 [underground film](/source/underground_film) ''[Castration Movie Anthology i: Traps](/source/Castration_Movie)'' chronicles an [egg](/source/LGBTQ_slang) as they are radicalized into becoming an incel.{{cite web |last1=Rife |first1=Katie |title='I Wanted to Write a Trans Woman Who Had Really Bad Politics': Filmmaker Louise Weard on the Abject Tragicomedy of Her DIY Epic Castration Movie |url=https://filmmakermagazine.com/131205-interview-castration-movie-louise-weard/ |website=Filmmaker Magazine |publisher=Filmmaker Magazine |access-date=March 22, 2026}}{{cite web |last1=Robertson |first1=Ellie |title=Castration Movie Anthology I: Traps |url=https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/castration-movie-anthology-i-traps |website=The Skinny |publisher=The Skinny |access-date=March 22, 2026}} == See also == {{div col|colwidth=22em}} * {{anl|4B movement}} * [Genetics of personal development](/source/Personality_development) * {{anl|Herbivore men}} * {{anl|Hikikomori}} * {{anl|Human mating strategies}} * {{anl|Incelcore}} * {{anl|Mate value}} * {{anl|Neckbeard (slang)|Neckbeard}} * {{anl|Nice guy}} * {{anl|Sex differences in psychology}} * {{anl|Sex segregation}} * {{anl|Sexual abstinence}} * {{anl|Sexual capital}} * {{anl|Simp}} * {{anl|Singles Awareness Day}} * {{anl|Social determinism}} {{div col end}} == Notes == {{notelist}} == References == {{reflist|30em}} == Further reading == * {{cite web |title=Incels: A Short Guide for Those Teaching Year 10 and Above |date=n.d. |publisher=Government of the United Kingdom |via=Educateagainsthate.com |url=https://www.educateagainsthate.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Incels-A-guide-for-those-teaching-Year-10-and-above-1-1.pdf |url-status=}} == External links == {{Sister project links|v=no|voy=no|s=no|c=Category:Incel|m=no|mw=no|wikt=incel|b=no|n=no|d=Q332395|display=Incels}} * {{Cite news |title=INVCEL |url=https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/76h59o |work=[Reply All](/source/Reply_All_(podcast)) |agency=Gimlet |date=May 10, 2018}} Podcast episode about the early history of the incel subculture. {{Alt-right footer}} {{Manosphere}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Incel}} Category:Incel subculture Category:/pol/ phenomena Category:1997 neologisms Category:2010s controversies Category:2020s controversies Category:Celibacy Category:Extremism Category:Gender-related violence Category:Internet memes Category:Internet-related controversies Category:Manosphere Category:Misogyny Category:Antifeminism Category:Sexual controversies Category:Social psychology Category:Violence against women Category:Alt-right Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by Canada Category:Organisations designated as terrorist by the United Kingdom Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by the United States --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Incel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incel) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incel?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.